

























""'■ ' '' ■■ ■ " ' "^y- 




Class _i4^.^B5r^3- 
MkJ^^lS- 

SMITHSONIAN DEPOSIT 



THE 

COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM 

OF THE 

STATE OF NEW-YORK 

COMPKISING 

THE SEVERAL GENERAL LAWS RELATING TO COMMON SCHOOLS, 
TOGETHER WITH FULL EXPOSITIONS, INSTRUCTIONS AND FORMS 
F6r the USE OF THE SEVERAL SCHOOL OFFICERS AND IN- 
HABITANTS OF DISTRICTS, A COMPLETE DIGEST OF THE 
DECISIONS OF THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT, AND THE 
SEVERAL LOCAL PROVISIONS FOR THE SUPPORT OF 
COMMON SCHOOLS IN THE CITIES AND 
VILLAGES OF THE STATE. 

TO WHICH IS PREFIXED 

A HISTORICAL SKETCH 

OF THE 

ORIGIN, PROGRESS AND PRESENT OUTLINE 

OF THE SYSTEM. 

Prepared in Pursuance of an Act of the Legislature, 

UNDER THE DIEECTION OF THE 

HON. CHRISTOPHER MORGAN, 

SUPEEINTKNDENT OF COMMON SCHOOLS. 
< 

BY SAMUEL S."^ RANDALL, 



DEP. SUP T COMMON SCHOOLS. 






i. <>y 



TROY, N. Y.: 

JOHNSON AND DAVIS, STEAM PRESS PRINTEKS. 
185L 



1 



^"h- 






PREFACE. 



In submitting the following work to the inhabitants and officers of school 
districts, the various town and county officers charged with the local adminis- 
tration of the common school system in its several departments, and the pub- 
lic generally, the compiler has been actuated by an earnest desire to diffuse as 
widely as possible, a more thorough and accurate knowledge of the history 
and details of that system than has hitherto appeared. Having been con- 
nected with the department of Common Schools, with a slight interval, for 
the past fourteen years, during which period five successive Superintendents 
have been in office, and the system has undergone numerous important mod- 
ifications, the necessary materials for a complete digest of its various provisions, 
as well as for the requisite adaptation of the numerous expositions, decisions, 
and instructions of the department, to the present state of the law, were 
probably more fully within his reach than that of any other individual 

The volume of Laws and Decisioas prepared and published by Gen. Dix in 
1837, however valuable for its intrinsic interest, and for its clear and lucid 
exposition of the fundamental principles of our system of public instruction 
has become to a very great extent inapphcable to the existing details of that 
system ; and where reUed upon as a guide, by officers of districts, of towns 
and counties, must necessarily embarrass and mislead. The compiler of the 
present work has therefore deemed it his duty to obviate this result so far as 
may be in his power, by giving first, a general abstract of the existing provis- 
ions of the law in reference to the powers, duties and liabilities of each class 
of officers connected with the administration, of the system, and of the inhab- 
itants of the several school districts ; and secondly, a digested view under 
each head, of the various instructions, expositions, and decisions of the depart- 
ment, or rather of the principles of such instructions and decisions, in their 
application to the law as it now stands : preceded by the general laws and 
the various local provisions applicable to the several cities and larger towns. 

A historical sketch of the origin and progress of the system from its incep- 
tion to the present period, accompanied by a brief exposition of its present 
condition, has been annexed to the work, with the design of rendering it more 
acceptable as well to our own citizens as to those of other portions of the 
Union, who may feel an interest in tracing the gradual advancement of our 
legislation on this important subject, and in ascertaining the prominent features 
of our system, as moulded by the successive improvements consequent upon 
an experience of nearly forty years. * 



' IV 

The importance of an iiniform and enlightened administration of a system 
embracing so great a variety of interests and forming so material an ingredient 
in the intellectual, moral, and social civilization of the community, has not been 
one of the least among the considerations which have led to the publication of 
this work : and if through its means any facilities shall have been afforded for 
the accomplishment of this desirable result, the time and pains spent in its 
preparation will not have been regretted. That it is free from imperfections 
and errors it would be presumptuous to assert ; but in commending it to those 
for whose use it is specially designed, and to the friends of popular education 
generally, the compiler can accompany it with the assurance that no efforts on 
his part have been spared to render it worthy of their attention and regard. 

Albany, May, 1851. 



SECRETARY'S OFFICE, ) 

Department of Common Schools. ) 



Albany, May 15, 1851. 

Havmg examined the following " Digest of the Common School System of 
the State of New York," I take pleasure in saying that it is a full and correct 
exposition of that system ; and entitled to the confidence of officers and inhab- 
itants of school districts. Town Supermtendents of common schools, and others 
interested in the cause of popular education. 

CHRISTOPHER MORGAN, 

S^lp^t of Common Schools. 



PART I. 

ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT CONDITION 

OF THE 

COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK, 

From the Origin of the State Government to the Year 1851. 



At the first meeting of the State Legislature after the adoption of the Con- 
stitution, the governor, Geo. Clinton, called the attention of that body to the 
subject of education. The following is an extract from his speech : 

" Neglect of the education of youth is one of the evils consequent upon -war. 
Perhaps there is scarce any thing more worthy your attention than the revival 
and encouragement of seminaries of learning ; and nothing by which we can 
more satisfactorily express our gratitude to the Supreme Being for his past fa- 
vors ; since piety and virtue are generally the offspring of an enlightened un- 
derstanding." 

In this? year, the act incorporating the Regents of the University was passed. 

In 1789 an act was passed, requiring the surveyor-general, to set apart twc 
lots in each township, of the pubUc land thereafter to be surveyed, for gospel 
and school purposes. 

The following is an extract from the report of the Regents of the University, 
for 1793 : 

" On this occasion we cannot help suggesting to the legislature the numerous 
advantages which we conceive would accrue to the citizens in general , from the 
institution of schools in various parts of the state, for the purpose of instructing 
children in the lower branches of education, such as reading their native lan- 
guage with propriety, and so much of writing and arithmetic, as to enable them 
when they come forward into active life, to transact with accuracy and dispatch, 
the business arising from their daily intercourse with each other. The mode of 
accomplishing this desirable object, we respectfully submit to the wisdom of 
the legislature. 

" The attention which the legislature has evinced to promote literature, by 
the hberal provision heretofore made, encourages, with all deference, to sug- 
gest the propriety of rendering it permanent by setting apart for that salutary 
purpose some of the unappropriated lands. The value of theiB will be en- 
hanced by the increase of population. The state will thus never want the 
means of promoting useful science ; and will thereby secure the rational happi- 
ness, and fix the liberty of the people on the most permanent basis — that of 
knowledge and virtue." 

At the opening of the session of the legislature in 1795, Gov. Clinton thus 
again alluded to the subject : 

" While it is evident that the general estabUshment and liberal endowment 
of academies are highly to be commended, and are attended with the most 
beneficial consequences, yet it cannot be denied that they are principally con- 
fined to the children of the opulent, and that a great portion of the communi- 



ty is excluded from their immediate advantages. Tlie establishment of com- 
mon schools throughout the state, is happily calculated to remedy this inconve- 
nience, and will therefore engage your early and decided consideration." 

On the 11th of January, the Assembly appointed a committee consisting of 
Jonathan Nicoll Havens, of Suffolk, as chairman ; David Brooks, of Dutchess, 
David Pye, of Orange, Ebenezee Purdy, of "Westchester, Daniel Gray, of 
Rensselaer, Adam Comstock, of Saratoga, and Richard Forman, of New York, 
to take into consideration that portion of the Governor's Message relating to the 
establishment of Common Schools throughout the state. Mr. Havens, from this 
committee, reported on the 19th of February " An Act for the encouragement 
of schools," which passed the House on the 4th, and the Senate on the 2 2d of 
March, and became a law on the 9th of April 1795. By this act the sum of 
£20,000 or S50,000 was annually appropriated for five years, " for the purpose 
of encouraging and maintaining schools in the several cities and towns in this 
state, in which the children of the inhabitants residing in the state, shall be in- 
structed in the Enghsh language, or be taught English grammar, arithmetic, 
mathematics, and such other branches of knowledge as are most useful and ne- 
cessary to complete a good Enghsh education." This sum was at first appor- 
tioned to the several counties according to their representation in the legislature, 
and afterwards according to the number of electors for members of assembly ; 
and to the several towns according to the number of taxable inhabitants of each. 
The boards of supervisors were required to raise by tax upon each town, a sum 
equal to one-half of that appropriated by the state, to be apphed in like manner. 
While this bUl was under discussion in the assembly, a motion to add a pro- 
viso, " that no tovra aftet receiving for one year its proportion of the moneys 
appropriated by the act, shall be entitled in any year thereafter to receive its 
proportion of the same, unless the freeholders and inhabitants of such town, 
should, at their next preceding town-meeting, have voted a sum for the use of 
schools in such town, equal to at least one-half of the proportion of the moneys 
to which such town shall have been entitled by this act in the preceding year ; 
and in case sach sum shall not have been voted to be raised as aforesaid by any 
town, the supervisors of the county should apportion the moneys to which such 
town would otherwise have been entitled, among the other towns in such coun- 
ty, which should have voted for such sum " was rejected, by a vote of 30 to 2*7. 
The adoption of this proviso, would have left it discretionary with the inhabi- 
tants of any town to comply with the requisitions of the act, and thereby entitle 
itself to receive its proportion of the public money ; a measure subsequently re- 
sorted to, as will hereafter be seen, but speedily abandoned on experience of 
its effects. 

The prominent features of the act of 1795, were the following : Not less 
than three, nor more than seven commissioners, were annually to be chosen by 
the electors of the respective towns, to whom were to be committed the super- 
vision and direction of the schools, and the apportionment of public money 
among the several districts. The inhabitants residing in different sections of 
each town, were authorized " to associate together for the purpose of procuring 
good and sufficient schoolmasters, and for erecting and maintaining schools in 
such and so many parts of the town where they may reside, as shall be most 
convenient," and to appoint two or more trustees, who were directed to " confer 
with the commissioners conceraing the qualification of the master or masters 
that they may have employed, or may intend to employ in their schools ; and 
concerning every ^tlier matter which may relate to the welfare of their school, 
or to the propriety of erecting or maintaining the same, to the intent that they 
may obtain the determination of the said commissioners whether the said school 
will be entitled to a part of the moneys allotted to or raised in that town by 
virtue of this act, and whether the abilities and moral character of the master 
or masters employed, or intended to be employed therein, are such as will meet 
with their approbation." The share of public money to be paid to each district, 
was to be apportioned by the commissioners, " according to the number of days 
for which instruction shall appear, by the annual report of the trustees, to have 
been given in each of the said schools, in such manner that the school in which 



the greater number of days of instruction shall appear to have been given, shall 
have a proportionably larger sum. And if it shall at any time appear to the 
said commissioners, that the abilities or moral character of the master or masters 
of any schools, are not such that they ought to be entrusted with the education 
of the youth, or that any of the branches of learning taught in any school, are 
not such as are intended to receive encouragement from the moneys appropria- 
ted by this act, the said commissioners shall notify in writing the said trustees 
of such school thereof ; and to the time of such notification, and no longer, shall 
any allowance be made to such school unless the same thereafter be conducted 
to the approbation of the said commissioners." The commissioners were requir- 
ed to give to the trustees of each district, an order on the county treasurer for 
the sum to which the district was entitled. Provisions were also made for an- 
nual returns from the several districts, towns and counties. An abstract of 
these returns, from sixteen out of the twenty-three counties of the state, for the 
year 1798, shows a total of 1,362 schools, organized accordmg to the act, in 
which 59,660 children were taught. 

In the year 1799 an act was passed directing the raising, by means of four 
successive lotteries, of the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, $12,500 of 
which, were to be paid to the Regents of the University, to be by them dis- 
tributed among the Academies in such manner as they shall deem most proper, 
and the residue, 187,500 was to be paid into the treasury, to be appropriated 
for the encouragement of common schools, as the legislature should thereafter 
direct. This biU probably grew out of a project proposed by the Hon. Jedediah 
Peck, of Otsego. " It is due " observes Judge Hammond, in his Political History, 
" to this plain, unlettered farmer, to add that he was intent upon making some 
permanent provisions for these institutions, and that he formed the project of 
establisliing a common school fund in pursuance of the example then lately 
fm-nished by Connecticut, the state from whence he emigrated : that he never 
lost sight of it ; and that to his indefatigable and persevering efforts, aided by 
Mr. Adam Comstock, of Saratoga, another uneducated and plain, but clear 
sighted and patriotic man, we are principally indebted for our school fund and 
common school system. What military chieftain — what mere conqueror by 
brute force, has conferred so deep, so enduring an obligation upon posterity * " 

At the opening of the Session of the Legislature in 1800, Gov. Jay called 
the attention of both Houses to the subject of Common Schools, in the follow- 
ing language : 

" Among other objects which wiU present themselves to you, there is one 
which I earnestly recommend to your notice and patronage. I mean our in- 
stitutions for the education of youth. The importance of common schools is 
best estimated by the good effects of them, where they most abound and are 
the best regulated." 

On the 25th of March of the same year, the Assembly, by a vote of fifty-sev- 
en to thirty-six, adopted the following resolution, offered by Mr. Comstock, of 
Saratoga : 

" Resolved, That the ' Act for the Encouragement of Schools,' passed the 
9th day of April, 1795, ought to be revised and amended ; and that out of the 
annual revenue arising to this State from its stock and other funds, the siun of 
$50,000 be aimually appropriated for the encouragement of schools, for the 
term of five years." 

On the 8d of April, subsequently, a clause to this effect was inserted in the 
annual supply bill, on Mr. Comstock's motion, by a vote of fifty-one to thirty- 
five. The Senate, however, by a vote of nineteen to sixteen, struck out the 
clause. The hoiise, on the return of the bUl, at first refused to concur with the 
Senate in this amendment, by a vote of forty-two to forty-one ; but subse- 
quently reconsidered its vote, and assented to the amendment, on the last day 
but one of the Session. 

By an act passed on the 3d of April, 1801, the sum of $100,000 was directed 
to be raised by lottery, of which one-half was ordered to be paid into the Treas- 
ury for the use of Common Schools ; leaving to future legislatures the discre- 
tion of maMng such application of it as they might judge most conducive to 



8 

the end in view. In order to promote so laudable an object, the Legislature 
of 180B, by an act passed on the 6th of April, directed the Comptroller to in- 
vest in good real estate, all such sums of money as had been, or should there- 
after be received from the proceeds of each lottery, for the term of two 
years. 

In 1802, the Governor (Geo. Clinton,) again called the attention of the Le- 
gislature to the subject of Common Schools. He observes, " The system of 
Common Schools having been discontinued, and the advantage to morals, reli- 
gion, liberty and good government, arising from the general diffusion of knowl- 
edge being universally admitted, permit me to recommend this subject to yonr 
deliberate attention. The failure'of one experiment for the attainment of an 
important object, ought not to discourage other attempts." No legislative action 
ho-wever, in reference to the subject, was had during the session of that year. 

In 1803, Gov. Clinton renevred his recommendation in the following energetic 
terms : " The estabhshment of common schools has, at different times, engag- 
ed the attention of the Legislature ; but although its importance is generally 
acknowledged, a diversity of sentiment respecting the best means, has hitherto 
prevented the accomplishment of the object. The diffusion of knowledge is so 
essential to the promotion of virtue and the preservation of liberty, as to ren- 
der arguments unnecessary to excite you to a perseverance in this laudable 
pursuit. Permit me only to observe, that education, by correcting the morals 
and improving the manners, tends to prevent those evils in society which axe 
beyond the sphere of legislation." 

On the 2 1st of February of that year, Mr. Peck, of Otsego, from the joint 
committee of both houses on this portion of the governor's speech, reported a 
bill authorizing the several towns to organize their schools, and to raise money 
to support the same. No definite action, however, took place upon it during 
the session of that year. 

In 1804, the governor again called the attention of the legislature to the sub- 
ject. On the 3d of March, in that year, Mr. Peck, from the committee on that 
portion of the speech, again made a favorable report, accompanied by a biU, 
which, however, shared the fate of its predecessor. 

At the extra session of the legislature, in November, 1804, Gov. Lewis 
brought the subject before that body, in the following language : 

"I cannot conclude, gentlemen, without calling your attention to a subject 
which my worthy and highly respected predecessor in office had much at heart, 
and frequently, I believe, presented to your view — the encouragement of litera- 
ture. ]ji a government, resting on public opinion, and deriving its chief support 
from the affections of the people, religion and morality cannot be too sedulous- 
ly inculcated. To them, science is an handmaid ; ignorance, the worst of ene- 
mies. Literary information should then be placed within the reach of every 
description of citizens, and poverty should not be permitted to obstruct the path 
to the fane of knowledge. Common schools, under the guidance of respectable 
teachers, should be established in every village, and the indigent be educated at 
the pubHc expense. The higher seminaries also, should receive every patron- 
age and support within the means of enUghtened legislators. Learning would 
thus flourish, and vice be more effectually restrained than by volumes of penal 
statutes." 

On the 4th of February, 1805, Gov. Lewis transmitted a special message to 
the legislature in reference to this subject, in which he recommended the appli- 
cation of all the state lands for the benefit of colleges and schools ; the whole 
fund and entire management of the system to be confided to the Regents of the 
University, under such regulations as the legislature might prescribe ; the Re- 
gents to have the power of appointing three trustees for each district ; who 
should be authorized to locate the sites for school houses, and to erect such hous- 
es wherever necessary, employ teachers, apply the funds of the district, and levy 
taxes on the inhabitants, for such further sums as might be required for the sup- 
port of the school and the education of indigent children . None of these sug- 
gestions, however, with the exception of the first, seem to have met with any 
favor at the hands of the legislature. 



On the 2d of April, the legislature passed an act providing that the nett pro- 
ceeds of 600,000 acres of the vacant and unappropriated lands of the people of 
this state, which should be first thereafter sold by the surveyor-general, should 
be appropriated as a permanent fund for the support of common scliools ; the 
avails to be safely invested untQ the interest should amount to |50,000 ; when 
an annual distribution of that amount should be made to the several school dis- 
tricts. This act laid the foundation of the present fund for the support of com- 
mon schools. 

By the act to incorporate the Merchants' Bank in tlie city of New- York, pas- 
sed the same year, the state reserved tlie right to subscribe for three thousand 
shares of the capital stock of that institution, which, together with the accruing 
interest and dividends, were appropriated as a fund for the support of common 
schools, to be applied in such manner as the legislature should from time to 
time direct. 

By acts passed March 13, 180Y, and April 8, 1808, the comptroller was au- 
thorized to invest such moneys, together with the funds arising from the pro- 
ceeds of the lotteries authorized by the act of 1803 in the purchase of addition- 
al stock of the Merchants' Bank, and to loan the residue of the fund. 

No determinate action on the part of the legislature, in reference to the estab- 
lishment of a system of common schools, was had during the years, 1806-7-8-9 
or 10. At the opening of the session in tbe latter year, Gov. Tompkins thus 
alludes to the subject. 

" I cannot omit this occasion of invitmg your attention to the means of instruc- 
tion for the rising generation. To enable them to perceive and duly to estimate 
their rights, to inculcate correct principles and habits of morality and religion, 
and to render them useful citizens, a competent provision for their education is 
all-essential. The fund appropriated for common schools ah-eady produces an 
income of about f 26, 000 annually, and is daily becoming more productive. It 
rests with the legislature to determine whether the resources of the state will 
justify a further augmentation of that appropriation, as well as to adopt such 
plan for its application and distribution, as shall appear best calculated to pro- 
mote the important object for which it was originally designed." 

On the 2Sth of February, of that year, the comptroller, in obedience to a reso- 
lution of the legislatm'e, calling upon him for information as to the condition of 
the school fund, reported that the amount of receipts into the treasury up to 
that period, of moneys belonging to the fund, was $151,115.69, of wliich S'29,- 
100 had been invested in the capital stock of the Merchants' Bank, $114,600 
(loaned in pursuance of law, and the residue remained in the treasury. 

Iq 1811, Gov. Tompkins again called the attention of the legislature to this 
subject ; and a law was passed, authorizing the appointment by the governor, of 
five commissioners, to report a system for the organization and establishment of 
common schools. Tlie commissioners appointed under this act were Jedediah 
Peck, John Murray, Jr., Samuel Russell, Roger Skinner, and Samuel Macomb. 
On the 14th of February, 1812, they submitted a report, accompanied by the 
draft of a bill, comprising substantially the main features of our common school 
system, as it existed up to the year 1 838. In the bill, as it originally passed, the 
electors of each town were authorized to determine at theu' annual town meet- 
ing, whether they would accept their shares of the money apportioned by the 
state, and direct the raising of an equal amount on their taxable property. So 
embarrassing, however, was the practical operation of this feature of the sys- 
tem, that'on the recommendation of the superintendent, Gideon Hawley, Esq., it 
was stricken out ; and each county required to raise by tax an amount equal to 
that apportioned by the state. 

The following are extracts from the report of the commissioners : 

" Periiaps there never will be presented to the legislature a subject of more 
importance than the estabhshment of common schools. Education, as the means 
of improving the moral and intellectual facidties, is, under all circumstances, a 
subject of the most imposing consideration. To rescue man from that state of 
degradation to which he is doomed, unless redeemed by education ; to unfold 
his physical, intellectual, and moral powers ; and to fit him for those high des- 



10 

tinies which his Creator has prepared for him, cannot fail to excite the most ar- 
dent sensibility of the philosopher and philanthropist. A comparison of the sav- 
age that roams through the forest, with the enlightened inhabitant of a civiUzed 
country, would be a brief but impressive representation of the momentous im- 
portance of education. 

" It were an easy task for the commissioners to show, that in proportion as 
every country has been enlightened by education, so has been its prosperity. 
Where the heads and hearts of men are generally cultivated and improved, vir- 
tue and wisdom must reign, and vice and ignorance must cease to prevail. Vir- 
tue and^wisdom are the parents of private and public felicity : vice and ignorance, 
of private and public misery. 

" If education be the cause of the advancement of other nations, it must be- 
apparent to the most superficial observer of our peculiar pohtical institutions, 
that it is essential, not to our prosperity only, but to the very existence of oui- 
government. Whatever may be the efifect of education on a despotic or monar- 
chical government, it is not absolutely indispensable to the existence of either. 
In a despotic government, the people have no agency whatever, either in the for- 
mation or in the execution of the laws. They are the mere slaves of arbitrary 
authority, holding their Uves and property at the pleasure of imcontrolled ca- 
price. As the will of the ruler is the supreme law ; fear, slavish fear, on the 
part of the governed, is the principle of despotism. It will be perceived readi- 
ly, that ignorance on the part of the people can present no barrier to the adminis- 
tration of such a government ; and much less can it endanger its existence. In 
a monarchical government, the operation of fixed laws is intended to supersede 
the necessity of intelligence in the people. But in a government like ours, where 
the people is the sovereign power ; where the wiU of the people is the law of 
the land ; which will is openly and directly expressed ; and where every act of 
the government may justly be called the act of the people ; it is absolutely es- 
sential that that people be enlightened. They must possess both intelligence 
and virtue : intelligence to perceive what is right, and virtue to do what is right. 
Our republic, therefore, may justly be said to be founded on the intelligence 
and virtue of the people. For this reason, it is with much propriety that the 
enlightened Montesquieu has said, ' in a republic the whole force of education 
is required.' 

" The commissioners think it necessary to represent in a stronger point of view,, 
the importance and absolute necessity of education, as connected either with the 
cause of reUgion and moraUty, or with the prosperity and existence of our politi- 
cal institutions. As the people must receive the advantages of education, the 
inquiry naturally arise 3, how this end is to be attained. The expedient devised 
by the legislature, is the establisment of common schools ; which being spread 
throughout the state and aided by its bounty, wiU bring improvement within 
the reach and power of the humblest citizen. This appears to be the best plau 
that can be devised to disseminate religion, morality, and learning throughout 
a whole country. All other methods, heretofore adopted, are partial in their 
operation and circumscribed in their effects. Academies and universities, under- 
stood in contradistinction to common schools, cannot be considered as operating 
impartially and indiscriminately, as regards the country at large. The advan- 
tages of the first are confined to the particular districts in which they are estab- 
lished ; and the second, from causes apparent to every one, are devoted almost 
exclusively to the rich. In a free government, where political equality is estab- 
lished, and where the road to preferment is open to all, there is a natural stimu- 
lus to education ; and accordingly we find it generally resorted to, unless some 
great local impediments interfere. In populous cities, and the parts of the con- 
try thickly settled, schools are generally established by individual exertion. In 
these cases, the means of education are facilitated, as the expenses of schools 
are divided among a great many. It is in the remote and thinly populated parts 
of the state, where the inhabitants are scattered over a large extent, that educa- 
tion stands greatly in need of encouragement. The people here, living far from 
each other, makes it difficult so to establish schools, as to render them convenient 
or accessible to all. Every family, therefore, must either educate its own chil- 
dren, or the children must forego the advaatages of education. 



11 

" These inconveniences can be remedied best by the establishment of com- 
mon schools, under the direction and patronage of the state. In these schools 
should be taught, at least, those branches of education which are indispensably 
necessary to every person in his intercourse with the world, and to the perform- 
ance of his duty as a useful citizen. Reading, writing, arithmetic, and the princi- 
ples of morality, are essential to every person, however humble liis situation in 
life. Without the first, it is impossible to receive those lessons of morality, 
which are inculcated in the writings of the learned and pious ; nor is it possible 
to become acquainted with oiu- political constitutions and laws ; nor to decide 
. those great poUtical questions, which ultimately are referred to the intelligence 
of the people. Writing'and arithmetic are indispensable in the management 
of one's private affairs, and to facilitate one's commerce with the world. Morali- 
ty and religion are the foundation of aU that is truly great and good, and are con- 
sequently of primary importance. A person provided with these acquisitions, 
is enabled to pass through the world respectably and successfully. If, however, 
it be his intention to become acquainted with the higher branches of science, 
the academies and imiversities established in different parts of the state are open 
to him. In this manner, education in all its stages is offered to the citkens 
generally. 

" In devising a plan for the organization and establishment of common schools, 
the commissioners have proceeded with great care and deliberation. To frame 
a system which must directly affect every citizen in the state, and so to regulate 
it, as that it shall obviate individual and local discontent, and yet be generally 
beneficial, is a taslc, at once perplexing and arduous. To avoid the imputation 
of tecal partiality, and to devise a plan, operating with equal mildness and ad- 
vantage, has been the object of the commissioners. To effect this end, they 
have consulted the experience, of others, and resorted to every probable source 
of intelligence. From neighboring states, where common school systems are 
established by law, they have derived much important information. This 
information is doubly valuable, as it is the result of long and actual experience. 
The commissioners by closely examining the rise and progi-ess of those systems, 
have been able to obviate many imperfections otherwise inseparable from the 
novelty of the estabUshment, and to discover the means by which they have 
gradually risen to their present condition. 

" The outlines of the plan suggested by the Commissioners are briefly these : 
that the several towns in the State be divided into school districts, by three 
commissioners, elected by the citizens qualified to vote for town officers : that 
three trustees be elected in each district, to whom shall be confided the care 
and superintendence of the school to be established therein : that the interest 
of the school fund be djvided among the different counties and towns, according 
to their respective popxilation, as ascertained by the successive census of the 
United States : that the proportions received by the respective towns be sub- 
divided among the districts into which such towns shall be divided, according 
to the number of children in each, between the ages of five and fifteen years : 
that each town raise by tax annually, as much money as it shall have received 
from the school fund : that the gross amount of moneys received from the State 
and raised by the towns, be appropriated exclusively to the payment of the 
wages of the teachers : and that the whole system be placed under the su- 
perintendence of an officer appointed by the Council of Appointment. 
******** 

" Let us suppose that the school fund were arrived at that point where by 
law it is to be divided. There will then be 150,000 of the public money to be 
disti-ibuted among the schools ; and as by the contemplated plan a sum is to be 
raised annually by tax, equal to the interest of the school fund, the gross amount 
of moneys which the schools will receive will be |1 00,000. There are in this 
State forty -five counties, comprising, exclusively of the cities, four hundred and 
forty-nine towns. It will be very evident, therefore, that the proportion of 
each town must be necessarily small. As, however, the school districts are au- 
thorized to raise by tax a sum sufficient to purchase a lot, on which the school 



12 

house is to be built, to build the school house and keep the same in repair, and 
as the school moneys are devoted exclusively to the payment of the teachers' 
wages, the sum, however small, which each district will be entitled to, will be 
from these considerations so much the more efEcacious. It will, however, be evi- 
dent to the Legislature, that the funds appropriated from the State for the sup- 
port of the common school system, will, alone, be veiy inadequate. And the 
commissioners are of opinion that the fund, in any stage of it, even when the 
residue of the unsold lands shall be converted into money, bearing an interest, 
never will be, alone, adequate to the maintenance of common schools ; as the 
increase of the population will probably be in as great if not a greater ratio than 
that of the fund. But it is hardly to be imagined that the Legislature intend- 
ed that the State should support the whole expense of so great an estabhsh- 
ment. The object of the Legislature, as understood by the commissioners, was 
to rouse the public attention to the important subject of education, and by 
adopting a system of common schools, in the expense of which the State would 
largely participate, to brmg instruction within the reach and means of the hum- 
blest citizen. And the commissioners have kept in view the furtherance of this 
object of theLegislature ; for by requiring each district to raise by tax a sum 
sufficient to build and repair a school house, and by allotting the school moneys 
solely to the payment of the teachers' wages, they have in a measure supplied 
two of the most important sources of expense. Thus every inducement will be 
held out to the instruction of youth." * * * * 

" The Legislature will perceive in the system contained in the bOls submitted 
to their consideration, that the commissioners are deeply impressed with the im- 
portance of admitting, tmder the contemplated plan, such teachers only as are 
duly qualified. The respectability of every school must necessarily depend* on 
the character of the master. To entitle a teacher to assume the control of a 
school, he should be endowed with the requisite literary qualifications, not only, 
but with an unimpeachable character. He should also, be a man of patient and 
mild temperament. ' A preceptor,' says Rousseau, ' is invested with the rights, 
and takes upon himself the obligations of both father and mother.' And Quin- 
tillion teUs us, ' that to the requisite literary and moral endowments, he must 
add the benevolent disposition of a parent.' " * * * * 

" When we consider the tender age at which children are sent to school ; the 
length of the time they pass under the direction af the teachers ; when we 
consider that their little minds are to be diverted from their natural propensi- 
ties to the artificial acquisition of knowledge ; that they are to be prepared for 
the reception of great moral and religious truths — to be inspired with a love 
of virtue and a detestation of vice ; we shaU forcibly perceive the absolute ne- 
cessity of suitable qualifications on the part of the master. As an impediment 
to bad men getting into the schools, as teachers, it is made the duty of the town 
inspectors strictly to inqmre into the moral and literary qualifications of those 
who may be candidates for the place of teacher. And it is hoped that this pre- 
caution, aided by that desii-e which generally prevails, of employing good men 
only, will render it unnecessary to resort to any other measure. 

"The commissioners, at the same time that they feel impressed with the im- 
portance of employing teachers of the character above described, cannot re- 
frain from expressing their solicitude, as to the introduction of proper books 
into the contemplated schools. This is a subject so intuuately connected with 
a good education, that it merits the serious consideration of all who are con- 
cerned in the establishment and management of schools. Much good is to be 
derived from a judicious selection of books, calculated to enlighten the under- 
standing, not only, but to improve the heart. And as it is of incalculable con- 
sequence to guard the young and tender mind from receiving fallacious impres- 
sions, the commissioners cannot omit mentioning this subject as a part of the 
weighty trust reposed in them. Connected with the introduction of suitable 
books, the commissioners take the liberty of suggesting that some observations 
and advice touching the reading of the Bible in the schools might be salutary. 
In order to render the sacred volume productive of the greatest advantage, it 



13 

should be held in a very different Light from that of a common school book. 
It should be regarded as a book intended for literary improvement, not merely, 
but as inculcating great and indispensable moral truths, also. With these un- 
pressions, the commissioners are induced to recommend the practice introdu- 
ced into the New York Free School, of having select chapters read at the 
opening of the school in the morning, and the like at the close in the after- 
noon. This is deemed the best mode of preserving the religious regard which 
is due to the sacred writings. ***** 

"The commissioners cannot conclude this report without expressing once 
more their deep sense of the momentous subject committed to them. If we 
regard it as connected with the cause of religion and morality merely, its as- 
pect is awfully solemn. But the other views of it already alluded to, is suffi- 
cient to excite the keenest soHcitude in the legislative body. It is a subject, 
let it be repeated, intimately connected with the permanent prosperity of our 
political institutions. The American empire is founded on the virtue and in- 
telligence of the people. But it were urational to conceive that any form of 
government can long exist without virtue in the people. Where the lai-gest 
portion of a nation is vicious, the government must cease to exist as it loses 
Its functions. The laws cannot be executed where every man has a personal 
interest in screening and protecting the profligate and abandoned. When 
these ai-e um-estrained by the wholesome coercion of authority, they give way 
to every species of excess and crime. One enormity brings on another, until 
the whole community, becoming corrupt, bursts forth into some mighty change 
or sinks at once into annihilation. 'Can it be,' said Washmgton, ' that Provi- 
dence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its vktue.' 
The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles 
human nature. 

" And the commissioners cannot but hope that that Being who rules the imi- 
verse in justice and in mercy, who rewards virtue and punishes vice, will most 
graciously deign to smile benignly on the humble efforts of a people, in 
a cause purely his own, and that he will manifest this pleasure in the lasting 
prosperity of our country." 

We cannot deem any apology necessary for the space occupied by these ex- 
tracts from this admirable report : shadowing forth as it does, the great features 
of that system of public instruction subsequently adopted, and successfully car- 
ried into execution; and laying down in language at once eloquent and impres- 
sive, those fundamental principles upon which alone any system of popular 
education, in a republic like ours, must be based. The leading featm-es of the 
system proposed by the conomissioners, were adopted and passed into a law by 
the Legislatm-e, during the session of 1812, with the exception of leavmg it 
discretionary with the electors of the several towns, after the first distribution 
of pubhc money, to receive their share and to raise an equal amount by tax, or 
to dispense ahke with the burthen and the benefits of the legal provisions, 
by vote at their annual town meetings. 

Administration of Gideon Hawley, Superintendent of Common Schools 

1813 to 1821. 

On the organization of the system, Gideon Hawley, Esq., then of the county 
of Saratoga, was appointed by the Council of Appointment, Superintendent of 
Common Schools. 

On the fourth day of February, 1814, the first annual report of Mr. Haw- 
ley, as Superintendant of Common Schools, was transmitted to the Legisla- 
ture ; in which he informs that body tliat, in pursuance of the act for the estab- 
lishment of common schools, passed on the 19th of June, 181 2, he had at the com- 
mencement of the preceding year given due notice of an mtended distribution of 
the interest of the school fund, and that by means of such notice, that act had been 
carried into operation so far as depended on him: that although no official returns 
had been received from which an estimate might be formed of the beneficial 
operation of the act, yet that satisfactory evidence had been obtained, that in 
many cases its operation had been prevented by the refusal or neglect of towns 
to comply V ith its provisions ; and that in other cases where such compliance 
had beer: ma le, and the act thereby carried into effect, its operation had been 



14 

much embarrassed by difficulties, arising, as was believed, from the imperfection 
of its proyisions ; that notwithstanding these obstacles and embarrassments, its 
influence had already proved very salutary, and that with the aid of legislative 
amendment, it promised to yield all that encouragement to common schools 
which it was designed to give. " It was not to be expected," continues the Su- 
perintendent, " that any system for the establishment of common schools could 
be devised, wliich in its first form should be whoUy free from imperfections ; and 
accordingly it has been found that the existing law for the establishment of such 
a system is, in some respects, defective in its provisions, and obscure and doubt- 
ful in its meaning." The report goes on to suggest such amendments as were 
deemed reqmsite in various particulars, not necessary to enumerate here. The 
operation, however, of that portion of the law which left it optional with the 
several towns to comply with its conditions and participate in its benefits, or not, 
as the inhabitants at their annual town meeting might determine, is worthy of 
special notice. We quote from that portion of the report which examines this 
feature of the system. 

" The fifth section of the act pro\-ides that such towns in every county as 
shall have complied with the law, by directing their Supervisors to levy on 
them the sum required by the act to entitle them to their proportion of the 
public money, shall receive by appointment, from the board of supervisors, the 
whole dividend of the county, according to their respective population, to the 
exclusion of such towns as shall not have complied with the law. By a sub- 
sequent part of the same section, it is further provided that the sum required 
to be raised on each town, to entitle it to a. share of the public money, must be 
equal to the sum apportioned to such town by the board of supervisors. By the 
operation of these several provisions in the act, the case may be that a single 
town in a county shall be entitled to receive the whole dividend for such coimty; 
and although this sum shall be more than sufficient, (as in ordinary cases it will 
be,) to support aU its schools, it must nevertheless be subjected by tax to the 
payment of an additional sum equal in amount to the sum it is entitled to re- 
ceive ; and this additional sum must, in law, be apphed to the support of its 
schools, which may have had (and in ordinaiy cases will have had) an excess 
of support ah-eady. Although the case here supposed has not yet occurred, 
to the knowledge of the Superintendent, there is nevertheless good reason to 
believe it will occur ; satisfactory evidence having been obtained, that in some 
covmties but few towns have comphed with the law, or shown any disposition 
to comply therewith. The mischief herein complained of, may be remedied 
by providing that the board of supervisors shall not, in any case, raise by tax 
on any town, a sum exceeding the sum which such town shall be entitled to 
receive out of the county dividend, if all the towns in the county had com- 
plied with the law. " 

" It will be found by inspection of the act, that one of its principal features 
is the provision which gives every town an election, either to comply with the 
act and receive its benefits, and bear its burdens, or to refuse such comphance, 
and thereby forego its benefits and avoid its burdens. In the exercise of this 
choice, it has already been observed that many towns have refused to comply 
with the act, and it is believed they will generally persist in such refusal, and 
that some other towns which have akeady complied with the law, will endea- 
vor to retract their compliance. By allowing such an option to every town, 
the operation of the act depending on the pleasure, and not unfrequently the 
caprice of a few individuals, will be always partial and fluctuating ; it will, 
moreover, be embarrassed by all the difficulties which are naturally connected 
with instability of system and intricacy of form. It is therefore submitted 
whether this provision in the act may not be so amended as to make it obliga- 
tory on towns to comply with the act, and also on the board of supervisors of 
the several counties to levy on their respective towns, a sxmi equal to the sum 
which shall be apportioned to such towns out of the public money to be dis- 
tributed." 

This suggestion was adopted by the legislature, and the act amended in 
this and various other respects, in conformity to the recommendation of the 
Superintendent. 



15 

On the 11th of Februgry, 1815, Mr. Hawley transmitted to the legislature 
wis second annual report as Superintendent. The returns -which had been 
made to him from the several counties were, however, so few in number, and 
in general so extremely defective in substance, and inartificial in form, that he 
did not deem it advisable to communicate them to the legislature, preferring to 
defer the performance of the duty required of him in this respect until more 
perfect returns, in accordance with forms and instnictions to be prepared by 
■nim, should enable him to discharge it more beneficially to the public. 

On the first day of April, 1816, the Superintendent transmitted his third 
annual report, from which it appeared that returns relative to the condition of 
the schools had been made to him from 338 towns in thirty-six of the forty-six 
counties then in the State ; that the whole number of districts from which 
reports had been received by the commissioners, in conformity to law, was 
2,631 ; that the whole number of children between the ages of five and fifteen 
in said districts was 1*76,449; and that 140,106 had been under instruction 
during a portion of the year reported, in the common schools. The Superin- 
tendent, however, observes : 

" The returns not being complete, and many of them being defective in some 
one or more of their necessary requisites, it is difiicult to form any certain es- 
timate from them. Taking, however, the most correct and full returns for a 
criterion, it would appear that there are witliin the state about five thousand 
districts in which common schools are established ; that the number of children 
taught in them is at least two hundred thousand ; and that the number of 
cliildren between the ages of five and fifteen years, residing in those districts, 
is about two hundred and fifty thousand. The city of Albany and the city 
and county of New York, not being divided into school districts under the act 
are not included in this estimate . " These being the first statistical retiuus un- 
der the act of 1812, it may not be uninteresting to contrast them with those 
for the year 1849, after a lapse of thirty-nine years. The whole number of 
school districts is now eleven thousand fom- hundred ; the number of children 
between the ages of five and sixteen is about seven hundred and fifty-thousand 
and not less than eight hundred thousand are imder instruction during the 
•whole or a portion of the year in common schools. 

But to resimae our quotation from Mr. Hawley's report : — 

" The Superintendent has also had the satisfaction to learn from other sour- 
ces, that the estabhshment of common schools by law has already produced 
many great and beneficial results. The number of schools has been increased; 
many school houses have been built ; more able teachers employed, and much 
of that interest which ought to be felt in behalf of common schools, has been 
generally excited. The beneficial operation of the act has also been visible 
in the pecuniary aid which many schools have derived from it. A peipetual 
annuity of twenty dollars, which is the average sum received by each district, 
under the act, ought not to be considered a trifle unworthy of any account. It 
has been very sensibly felt, especially in those districts where, from the inabil- 
ity of the inhabitants, or from any other cause, common schools have not been 
kept open for the whole year, and when the revenue of the fund shall have 
attamed its full growth, the distributive share of each district will be so much 
more considerable, that the munificence of the legislature cannot faU to be 
more gratefully acknowledged. 

" But the great benefit of the act does not he in any pecuniary aid which it 
may afford. The people of this state are, in general, able to educate their chil- 
dren without the aid of any pubhc gratuity, and if they fail in this respect, it 
is owmg more to their want of proper schools than of sufficient means. The 
public gratuity is impoitant, as it tends to excite an interest in the affairs of 
common schools which might not othei-wise be felt, and is also beneficial in 
many othe* respects. But the great benefit of the act consists in securing the 
estabhshment of common schools, wherever they are necessary ; in organizing 
theni on a suitable and permanent foundation, and in guarding them against the 
admission of unqualified teachers. These were the great ends proposed in 



the establishment of common schools by law, and under the wise and liberal 
policy of the legislature, these ends have been so far accomplished as to war* 
rant full faith in their final complete attainment." 

On the 12th of March, 1817, Mr. Hawley transmitted to the Legislature hi& 
fourth annual report, in which he states that " the returns which have been made 
to him during the last year, from most of the counties of the State, afford satis- 
factory evidence of a progressive increase in the number of common schools, 
and a corresponding improvement in their condition. It is ascertained with 
sufficient certainty, that there are within the State, exclusive of the city and 
county of New York, at least five thousand common schools, which have been 
organized and kept up mider the act for their establishment ; and that the num- 
ber of children annually taught in them exceeds two hundred thousand." 

In his fifth annual report, under date of March 16, 1818, the Superintendent 
informs the Legislature, that from the returns made to him during the preceding 
year, it appeared that there were more than five thousand common schools, in 
which were annually taught upwards of two hundred thousand children, the re- 
turns not being sufficiently full and definite to enable him to speak with more 
precision. •' On comparing the returns of common schools, however for differ- 
ent years, it appeared that in almost every district a greater proportion of the 
cliildren between the ages of five and fifteen years, have been taught, and a reg- 
ular school supported for a longer time in every succeeding year, than in the 
preceeding one. To this result, so favorable to the establishment of common 
schools by law, it may be added — and it has not escaped the most transient ob- 
server — that under the operation of this system, better teachers have been em- 
ployed, a new and more respectable character given to our common schools, and 
a much greater interest excited in their behalf." 

" It is now more than five years," continues the Superintendent, " since com- 
mon schools were estabhshed by law. The first act of the legislature was 
passed in 1812. Soon after this act was carried into operation, it was discov- 
ered to be defective in many of its provisions. To supply this defect, and to 
add some provisions which were deemed necessary, a new act was passed in 
1814. This act was also found on trial to be imperfect, and in the following 
year it underwent sundry amendments. Since that time, the system founded 
on the act of 1814 and the amendments of 1815, has remained imaltered ; nor 
has a practice of three years under it discovered any very great defects. It 
was not, however, to be expected, even after the amendments of 1815, that the 
system would be foimd complete and perfect in all its details ; on the contrary, 
it was to be expected of this as of eveiy other new and vmtried system, that 
time would develope many imperfections which had not been foreseen." The 
Superintendent proceeds to suggest several particulars of the system which, in 
his judgment, required amendment, and adds, "although when a system is once 
established it is not advisable to subject it to frequent revision and amendment, 
without urgent cause — yet as the system of common schools might be impro- 
ved in these and other respects not adverted to, and it will be necessary, at 
least, to consolidate the different acts on the subject, the propriety of revising 
the whole system and amending it in some of its subordinate parts, is respect- 
fully submitted." The residue of the report is devoted to a consideration of 
the Lancasterian system of education, the introduction of which into the com- 
mon schools had been strongly recommended by the governor, (De Witt Clin- 
ton,) in his speech at the opening of the session. The peculiar excellencies of 
this system were clearly and distinctly pointed out by the Superintendent, and 
its adoption, especially in all the larger schools in cities and villages, urgently 
and ably enforced. Under the impetus thus given, Lancasterian schools were 
established in many portions of the State, and societies incorporated, some 
of which are still in existence, having for their object the introduction and pro- 
motion of the system of BeU and Lancaster, then at its zenith of popularity. 
Experience, however, failed to realize the sanguine anticipations of those 
friends of education who saw in the general adoption of this system the com- 
mencement of a new and brighter era in the science of elementary instruc- 
tion ; and after an ephemeral and sickly existence, these institutions, from 
which such favorable results were expected, languished, and with few excep- 



17 . 

tions, disappeared. Whether the failure of this experimtn; t«.i-ultc<l from 
inherent defects in the monitorial system of instruction, fr .lu its want of 
adaptation to the peculiar genius of our people, or from an iuability on the 
part of those to whom its administration was committed, to carry into ef- 
fect the plan of its founders and the views of its advocates, is still an un- 
settled question. 

On the 17th of February, 1819, the Superintendent transmitted to the 
Legislature his sixth annual report. From the returns which had been 
made to him diuing the preceding yeai', it appeared that the whole num- 
ber of common schools in this State, organized and permanently establish- 
ed under the act of the Legislature, may be estimated at neai-ly six thou- 
sand ; and the number of children annually taught in them, in the various 
branches of elementary education, at nearly two himdred and fifty thou- 
sand. " This gi-eat increase and prosperity of our common schools," contin- 
ues the Superintendent, " is evidently the result of the wise and liberal 
policy adopted by the legislature for their encouragement and support. On 
comparing the returns of schools made for different years since their first 
establishment by law. it appears that they have inereased in a much great- 
er ratio than the increase of population, and that their condition, which 
was before stationary, has, imder the salutary operation of the law for 
their establishment, been rapidly and substantially improved. 

"The same data also attVird evidence that common schools have risen in 
public estimation, anct received a degree of care and attention to their 
concerns, corresponding with their increase and prosperity. If these re- 
sults were the only evidence of a beneficial operation in the system of 
eommou schools provided by law, they would be sufficient to establish the 
public confidence in the policy of that system, and to secure it a perma- 
nent duration. But it is well known, although it does not appear from any 
data in the returns, that the system has produced other results not less in 
magnitude or merit. It has secm-ed our .schools against the admission of 
unqualified teachers, by reqiiiring them to submit to examination before a 
public boai-d of inspectors, and to obtain from them a certificate of appro- 
bation, before they can legally be employed. It has imparted to cornmon 
schools a new and more respectable character, by making them a subject of 
legal notice, and investing them with powers to regulate their own con- 
cerns. It has corrected many evils in the discipline and government of 
schools, not only by excluding unqualified teachers but by subjecting the 
schools and comse of studies in them to the frequent inspection of public 
officers. It has founded schools in places where, by eonflictmg interests or 
want of concert in the inhabitants, none had been before established ; and 
it has, by its pecuniary aid, enabled many indigent children to receive the 
benefits of education which would not otherwise ha.ve been within their 
reach. The system having already fulfilled so many of the beneficial ends 
of its institution, and it being now only six years since it was fir.-t organ- 
ized and carried int<;» operation, it is warrantable to infei' that ail the ex- 
pectations of its founders will in due time be realized. 

The Superintendent renews his recommeudati<m for a revision and con- 
solidation of the several enactments relating to common schools. His sug- 
gestions in this respect were adopted by the legislature, and on the 19th of 
April followiug, the "■ Act for the support of Common S'^hools" was re-en- 
acted, with the various itmendments whicli had from time to time been 
made, and such as were suggested by Mr. Hawley in his reports for the two 
preceding years. The publication of the revised act was accoiup.-i-iied by 
an able exposition of its various provisions, from the pen of Mr. Hawley, 
and with complete forms for the several proceedings required imdcr it by 
the several officers connected with its administration. 

On the 21st of Februaiy, 1820, Mr. Hawley transmitted to the l^irislatiare 
his serenth annual report. He states "that ihe returns of commun schoolfl 
for the last year are much more full and satisfactory than cuy before re- 
ceived •," that from these retmrna it appeared that in 515 towns there were 
2 



18 

5,T3S common achoola, orgauized accordiag to law, and that in 5,118 of 
theee schools, from -which only particular district retm-ns had beea receiv- 
ed, there had been taught dm-ing the year, in the various branches of ele- 
mentary education, 271,871 children. The number of children between the 
ages of five and fifteen years, residing in the districts from which returns 
had been received, was 302,703, making the number of children taught 
equal to nine-tenths of the whole number between the ages of five and fif- 
teen. 

On the 2l8t of Febi'uary, 1821, Mi-. Hawley transmitted to the Legisla- 
ture his eighth and last armual report as Superintendent ; from which it 
appeared that in 545 to-wns from which returns had been received, there 
were 6,323 school districts organized according to law, from 5,489 of which 
particular district reports had been made, sho-wing that of 317,633 children 
between the ages of five and fifteen years, residing in those districts, 304,- 
549 had been imder instruction during portions of the yeai- in the common 
schools. "The proportion," observes the Superintendent, "which, from the 
present returns, the number of children taught bears to the number between 
the aj^'os of five and fifteen years is much greater than at any former period. 
In about one half of the towns in the state, the number taught exceeds the 
number between the ages of five and fifteen years ; and taking the whole 
state together, the number taught is more than nineteen-twentieths of the 
number between these ages. 

" The average length of time for which schools »have been kept for the 
last year, has also iacrea.sed iu about the same ratio as the number of 
children taught. There is now, therefore, reason to believe that the num- 
ber' of children in the state who do not attend any school, and who are not 
other-wise in the way of receiving a common education, is very small. The 
public lx>unty is sufficient to defray the expense of most schools for about 
thi-ee months in the year ; and where that is expended in different parts 
of the year, so as not to defray the whole expense of the school for any 
particular part, it is understood that in most districts poor children have 
been permitted to attend the district school free of expense, under that pro- 
vision in the school act which empowers districts to exonerate those child- 
ren from the payment of teachers' wages. The readiness with which such 
permission has been generally granted, wherever it has been deserved, is 
very cr'Hiitable to the public spirit and liberality of the inhabitants of 
school districts, and it is considered proper on this occasion, to bring the 
fact to the notice of the legislatm-e. From these circumstances, in eonnec- 
tioa with the friendly disposition every where manifested iu the cause of 
education, it is considered warrantable to infer, that of the rising generation 
m this state, very few individuals will arrive to maturity without the en- 
joyment and protection of a common education." 

To no individual in the state, are the friends of common school educa- 
tion more deeply indebted for the impetus given to the cause of elementary 
instruction in "its infancy, than to Gideon Hawley. At a period when 
every thing depended upon organization ; upon supervision ; upon practi- 
cal acquaintance -with the most minute details ; and upon a patient, per- 
severing, laborious process of exposition, Mr. HaAvley united in himself all 
the requisites for the efficient discharge of the high functions devolved upon 
him ?oy the legislature. From a state of anarchy and co-afusion, and com- 
plete diii-rgauization, within a period of less than eight years, arose a beau- 
tiful and stately fabric, based upon the most impregnable foundations, sus- 
tained by an enlightened public sentiment, fortified by the best and most en- 
during affections of the people, and cherished as the safeguard of the state 
— the true palladium of its gi'eatness and prosperity. Witliiu this brief 
period the number of school districts had more than doubled, and the pro- 
portion of children annually participating in the blessing of elementary in- 
struction, increased from four-fifths to twenty-fom- twenty -fifths of the whole 
number residing in the state of a suitable age to attend the public schools. 
When we take into view the disadvantages under which every new and un- 



19 

tried .system must, of necessity, labor, before it can be commended to g^- 
eral adoption, and consider the immense variety of interests which ■were, 
to a greater or less extent, affected by the stringent provisions of the act of 
1812, and its subsequent amendments, we cannot fail of being surprised at 
the magnitude of the results which developed themselves imder the admin- 
istration of Mr. Hawley. The foundations of a permanent and noble system 
of popular education were strongly and securely laid by him, and we are 
now witnessing the magnificent superstruetm-e, which, in the progiess 
of a quarter of a century, has been gradually upbuilt on these foundations. 
Wki.oome Esleeck, of the city of Albany, was named as his successor in of- 
fice, but the legislature saw fit to abolish the office as a separate depart- 
ment of the government, and to devolve its duties upon the secretary of 
state. 

Administration q/" John Van Ness Yates, Secretary of State and Super- 
intendent ex officio of common Schools, 1821 to 1826. 

By the Constitution of 1821, the proceeds of all lands thereafter to be sold, 
belonging to the state, with the exception of such as might be reserved for 
public use or ceded to the United States, together with the existing school 
fund, were declared to constitute " a perpetual fund, the interest of which 
shall be invioably appropriated and applied to the support of common 
schools throughout this state." 

In his speech at the opening of the legislature, at its ses.sion of 1822, the 
governor (De Witt Clinton) refers to the condition of the system of public 
intruction, in the following terms : 

" The excellent direction which has Ijeen given to the public bounty, in 
appropriations for common schools, academies and colleges, is very percepti- 
ble in the multiplication of our ecminaries of education, in the increase of 
the number of students, and iu the acquisition of able and skilful teachers. 
The Lancasterian or monitorial system is making its way in the community, 
by the force of its transcendant merits. Our common schools have flourish- 
ed beyond all former example." * ****** 
"I am happy to have it ia my power to say that this state has akvays evin- 
ced a liberal spirit in the promotion of education ; and I am persuaded that 
no considerations short of total inability will ever prevent similar demon- 
strations. The first duty of a state is to render its citizens virtuous, by 
intellectual instruction and moral discipline, by enlightening their minds, 
purifying their heart-^, and teaching them their rights and their obligations. 
Those solid and enduring honors which arise from the cultivation of science, 
and the acquisition and diffusion of knowledge, will outlive the renown of the 
statesman and the glory of the warrior; and if any stimulus were wanting in a 
ease so worthy of all our attention and patronage, we may find it in the ex- 
ample before om- eyes of the author of the Declaration of Independence, 
who has devoted the evening of his illustrious life to the establishment of 
an university in his native state." 

In connection with this subject the governor also transmitted the pro- 
ceedings of the legislatures of the several states, relative to the appropria- 
tion of a portion of the national domain to the purposes of education ; by 
which it .appeared that in eleven of the new states and territories, the 
general government had appropriated one thirty-sixth pjirt of the public land 
for common schools, and one fifth part of that thirty-sixth part for colleges 
and academies; and while it was admitted that this disposition was in all res- 
pects proper and laudable, it was contended that the other membei-s of the 
confederacy were entitled to a correspondent benefit out of the same com- 
mon fund. " This claim, " observes his Excellency, " appears to be sustain- 
ed by the most conclusive rea.soning ; and it is believed to be impossible 
for congress to re.si.st an application so just and beneficial. If, however, this 
measure were calculated to embarrass the financial arrangements of the 
national government, to make a serious inroad on the national domain, or 
to disparage the interests of the states which have already been benefitted, 
I should be entirely unwilling to press it. Whatever ratio of distribution 
may be adopted, the quantum of population, or the extent of territory of 
each state, the deduction from the landed estate of the empire, would be so 



20 

small as scarcely to be felt. In either case it would not exceed ten mil- 
lions out of five hundred millions of acres owned by the United States. 
It is our duty to co-operate in obtaining justice for our sister states as well 
as for ourselves. If we were willing to waive the benefit which might be 
derived fi-om the success of this application, it would furnish no just ground 
of hostility to the claim in general ; and indeed in such case it would entire- 
ly correspond with the dictates of magnanimity, to advocate it with all our 
might and influence. This state, on the basis of appropriation originally 
adopted, would be entitled to 800,000 acres for our common schools, and 
160,000 for our colleges and academies; which, with proper management, 
and in connection with existing funds, would answer all the requisitions of 
education." 

By the annual report of the acting Superintendent of Common Schools 
(John Van Ness Yates, Esq., Secretaiy of State) it appears that the total 
munber of school districts in the state was 6,865, from 5,882 of which reports 
in accordance with law had been received ; that the total number of child- 
ren between the ages of five and sixteen years residing in the several dis- 
tricts, was 380,000 ; and the total number of ehiidi-en of all ages taught in 
the common schools during the year reported, was 342,479 ; and that the 
average number of months during which the schools were kept open in the 
several districts was eight. Several amendments in the details of the sys- 
tem were suggested, most of which were adopted by the legislature ; in- 
eluding, for the fii'st time, the provision investing the Superintendent with 
appellate jurisdiction over all controversies arising under the school laws, 
and declaring his decision thereon final. In pm-suanee of a provision con- 
tained ill t!r's a.ot, the act of 1819, with all the subsequent amendments, 
was republished by the Superintendent, accompanied by an exijosition of 
its vai'ious provisions, and an abstract of the decisions which had been pro- 
nounced, dm-ing the period which had elapsed since the adoption of the ap- 
pellate system. 

On the 8d of February, 1823, Mi*. Yates transmitted to the legislature 
his second annual report as Superintendent of Common Schools ; from 
which it appeared that returns had been received during the preceding 
yeai" from all the counties in the State, fifty-two in number, comprising 649 
towns and wards ; that the whole number of school districts in the state 
exceeded 8,000 ; from 6,265 of which, only, reports in accordance with law 
had been j-eceived, in which the number of children between the ages of 
five and fifteen was about 357,000 ; that for the term of eight months dur- 
ing the year reported, 351,173 children were receiving a common school 
education in the several districts from which reports had been received — 
being 18,194 more than were educated the preceding year. The Superintend- 
ent adds : " Even in Connecticut, which possesses a larger school fund than 
we do, and where the school system was established and in successful op- 
eration long before it wa? here introduced, the number of children educated 
in common schools is far less in proportion to its population than it is in 
this state." He complains of the "want of uniformity in the course of 
studies pursued, and the books and treatises now used in common schools. 
A gi-eat diversity of opinion has long existed and still continues to exist as 
to the |B"oper books to be introduced into these schools ; and teachers 
and parents are not nntVeqiiently at a loss to select ainoag the great variety 
of treatises on education recommended by their authors, the most suitable 
and best adapted for the use of the student. Whether this evil could be 
remedied by directing some judicious and appropriate work to be prepared 
in the nature of a ' Common School Instructor,' and to be recommended to 
the public under the immediate sanction and approbation of the legislature, 
is respectfully submitted." 

The annual appropriation from the funds of the state, at this period, for 
the benefit of common schools, was fixed by the act of 1819, at $80,000. — 
These funds consisted of the loan of 1792, then amounting to $600,000 ; of 
that of 1808, amounting to $449,000 ; of stock in the Merchant's Bmk of 



2) 

tfae city of New York, the par value of which amounted to $180,000, aud 
on which annual dividends of nine per cent, were regularly made ; of one 
kalf the quit-rents, estimated at $100,000 ; and the fees of the supreme 
court, then producing an annual income of about $7,000. The revenues 
arising from these several som-ces were estimated at $80,000 per annum at 
least. But in consequence of a reduction of the fees of the supreme coui't, 
and a diversion of those fees from the school fund — together with a commu- 
tation for quit-rents, and a temporary suspension of dividends by the Mer- 
chant's Bank, growing out of frauds to a large amount which had been 
practised on that institution — an annual deficiency, varying from $13,000 
to $7,000, had occui-red dm-iug the preceding four years, which the legisla- 
ture, considering the faith of the State pledged to keep up the appropria- 
tion directed by the act of 1819, had supplied by special gi'ants from the 
general funds. A continuance of this deficiency being probable, the gov- 
ernor (Joseph C. Yates) had recommended, in his annual message at the 
•ommencement of the session of 182.3, "the sale of the whole or a part of 
the public lands appropriated to the school fund, for the purpose of raising 
a productive capital, yielding an interest sufficient to make good the annual 
deficiency in the school revenue." 

On the 7th of January, 1824, the acting Superintendent, Mr. Yates, 
transmitted his third annual report to the legislatm'e, from which the fol» 
lowing results were shown : 

1. That all the counties, fifty-fim- in number, and all the towns and 
wards, being 684 in nmnber, had, with the exception of twenty -seven towns 
presented their reports for the preceding year. 

2. That there were in the state 7,882 school districts, from 6,705 of 
which reports had been received in accordance with law : 

3. That 331 new school districts had been orgaruzed dm-ing the year. 

4. That upwards of 377,000 childi-en had been instructed in the districts 
from which reports had been received, for an average period of eight months 
during the preceding year ; and 23,500 more were estimated to have been 
imder instruction dm'ing the same period in the non-reporting districts, ma- 
king a gi-and total of upwards of 400,500 childi-en thus under instruction 
in all the common schools of the state, exceeding by nearly 26,000 the num- 
ber under instruction during the preceding year : 

5. That the whole number of childi-en between the ages of five and fif- 
teen yeJ<rs, residing in the several districts from which reports were receiv- 
ed, was about 373,000 : 

6. That the sura of $182,802.25 of public money had been expended 
during the year reported, in the payment of the wages of duly qualified 
teachers ; aud it was estimated by the Superintendent that in addition to 
this amoimt more than $850,000, from the private fnnds of individuals, 
were appropriated in like manner during the same period ; making a grand 
total of upwards of one million of dollars. " These facts," observes the 
Superintendent, "require no comment. They demonstrate the signal suc- 
eess which has attended the exertions made from time to time by the leg- 
islature to disseminate useful knowledge among every class of the commu- 
nity ; and it must also be gratifying to perceive that our sister states, ani- 
mated with a like zeal for ameliorating the condition of society, are intro- 
ducing aud supporting among them institutions similar to our own." 
Among other recommendations and suggestions, the Superintendent recom- 
mends the establishment of schools in cities and villages exclusively for 
the benefit of colored children. He also suggests the consolidation and re- 
vision of the several acts relating to common schools, and concludes as 
follows : 

" The funds provided and secm-ed by the Constitution for the support of 
common schools have become only in part productive, as will be seen from 
the operations of the treasury department for the past year. By far the lar- 
gest portion of those funds is still inactive, and must continue so, until ad- 
vantageous sales can be made of nearly a million of acres of land, appropria- 



22 

ted to the use of common schools. It is not extravagant to predict that 
when that period shall arrive, the anticipations of the patriot and philan- 
thropist with regard to the still more extensive operation of our school sys- 
tem, and its favorable eifects upon the condition of society, will be fully re- 
alised. Indeed, what has education not already efifceted ! It has given 
man dominion, not only over the elements, but it has enlarged his capacity 
and faculties beyond the sphere in which he moves. It has shown him that 
intellectual wealth is national wealth, and that it lies at the foundation of 
all that is useful in the arts ; that its influence extends to the narrower path 
of private virtue aud daily duty ; and that while it strengthens the tie be- 
tween parent and eliild, liusband and wife, citizen and citizen, it secures 
from the rude and withering hand of oppression, and from the iron grasp of 
despotism, those valuable institutions of government, which it is no less the 
pride than it is the duty of freemen to maintain pm-e and inviolate. Com- 
mon schools, supported by law and open alike to the poor and to the rich, 
(as they emphatically are in this State,) together with the higher semina- 
ries of learning, are those monuments which render the glory of a nation 
imperishable ; and while this state is engaged in the gi-eat works of canals 
and other internal improvements, she shows the boimdless extent of her re- 
sources and the energies of her chai'acter, by supporting at the same time, 
upon a basis equally broad and enduring, a plan of education unequalled 
in its operations and effect, by that of any other country in the civilized 
world." 

On the 12th of January, 1825, Mi-. Yates transmitted to the legislature 
his fom-th annual report, from which it appeared that the number of child- 
ren taught, for an average period of nine months, in the common schools du- 
ring the preceding year, was 402,940 ; being neai-ly 26,000 more than the 
number taught in 1823. The number of school districts was 7,642 from 
6,936 of which reports had been received. The aggi-egate amoimt of public 
money received and expended in the payment of teacher's wages in the re- 
porting districts, during the year, was $182,741.61. 

In August of the preceding yeaj-, the Superintendent had issued a circu- 
lai" recommending school celebrations in the several towns of the state, from 
which the following are extracts : " The object in view is extremely im- 
portant, for it is addi'essed as well to the aiffections of the parent as the 
feelings and interests of the citizen. The happiness of society and the free- 
dom of our country mainly depend upon the general diffusion of knowledge, 
and it is om- duty to devise the best means for attaining and securing that 
very desirable end. In a few years, the children that now sit upon om* 
knees, or play around the room, will fill om- places and become the futme 
legislators, magistrates and judges of our country, while we are silently 
descending to the tomb. How consoling then the reflection will be, that 
those objects of our affection are about to realize oiu- fondest hopes and do 
honor to our memories ? Even now, when we hear- recounted the sage de- 
liberations of the statesman, or the gallant achievements of the warrior, or 
the brilliant and still more useful attainments of the scholar, or the sacred 
and impressive eloquence of the divine, or the profound arguments of the 
lawyer, or the useful inventions and experiments of the philosopher, farmer 
and mechanic, do not our bosoms burn with admiration, and do not the 
eyes and hearts of each of us exclaim, ' Would that he were my son ? ' 

" If then, these are the delightful emotions excited in us from the mere re- 
lation of the grand effects which knowledge and virtue produce, can we re- 
fuse yielding our best exertions to realize them in the persons of our child- 
ren ? The means, under Providence, are fully within our power, and pain- 
ful will be our reflections, if we neglect them. 

" The plan suggested for the improvement of om- common schools, by in- 
stituting celebrations, promises, I am convinced, fai- more beneficial and im- 
portant consequences than any other hitherto devised. The experiment is 
neither doubtful nor difficult ; and its benefits are certain, and their extent 
beyond calculation. Indeed when, we see the flourishing condition of 



23 

our colleges and academies, and know that much is attributable to their 
public anniversaries, and commencements, why should we hesitate to be- 
lieve that the same means when used in support of ovu* common schools, 
will produce the same end ? And why, permit me to ask, should not our 
common schools be placed on a footing as respectable as any other semina- 
ries of learning ? Are they not as useful ? and is not their influence more 
generally felt and acknowledged ? When we consider also the high charac- 
ter which our common schools have'so deservedly maintained — whenwe find 
other states and countries imitating their example and quoting their success, 
should we not feel the strongest desire to render them still more worthy of 
this distinction, and still more useful to ourselves and to posterity i! " 
Administration of A. C. Flagg— 1826 to 1833. 

In his message to the legislatm-e, at the opening of the session of 1826, the 
Governor (De Witt Clinton) thus adverts to the subject of education : 

" The fii-st duty of government, and the sm-est evidence of good govern- 
ment, is the encoiu-agement of education. A general diffusion of knowledge 
is the precursor and protector of republican institutions ; and in it we must 
confide as the conservative power that will watch over ,om" liberties, and 
guard them against fraud, intrigue, corruption and violence. In early infan- 
cy, education may be usefully administered. In some pai'ts of Great Britain, 
infant schools have been successfully established comprising children from 
two to six years of age, whose tempers, hearts and minds are ameliorated, 
and whose indigent parents ai'e enabled by these means to devote themselves 
to labor, without interruption or uneasiness. Institutions of this kind ai"e 
only adapted to a dense population, and must be left to the guardianship of 
private benevolence. Our common schools embrace children from five to 
fifteen years old and continue to increase and prosper. The appropriation 
for the school fund for the last year, amounted to $80,670, and an equivalent 
sum is also raised by taxation in the several counties and tovras, and is ap- 
plied in the same way. The capital fund is $1,338,000, which will be in a 
state of rapid augmentation from sales of the public lands and other sour- 
ces ; and it is well ascertained that more than 420,000 children have been 
taught in our common schools during the last year. The sum distributed by 
the state is now too small, and the general fund can well warrant an aug- 
mentation to $120,000 annually. 

"Oiir system of instruction, with all its numerous benefits, is still, how- 
ever, susceptible of improvement. Ten years of the life of a child may 
now be spent in a common school. In two years the elements of instruc- 
tion may be acquired, and the remaining eight years must either be spent 
in repetition or in idleness, imless the teachers of common schools are com- 
petent to instruct in the higher branches of knowledge. The outlines of 
geography, algebra, mineralogy, agricultural chemistry, mechanical philoso- 
phy, sm'veying, geometry, astronomy, ]X)litical economy and ethics, might 
be communicated in that period of time by able preceptors, without es- 
sential interference with the calls of domestic industry. The vocation of a 
teacher, in its influence on the character and destinies of the rising and all 
future generations, has either not been fully understood or duly estimated. 
It is, or ought to be, ranked among the learned professions. With a full 
admission of the merits of several who now officiate in that capacity, still 
it must be conceded that the information of many of the instructors of oui- 
common schools does not extend beyond rudimental education ; that our 
expanding population requires constant accessions to their numbers ; and 
that to realize these views, it is necessary that some new plan for obtaining 
able teachers should be devised. I therefore recommend a seminary for 
the education of teachers, in the monitorial system of instruction, and in those 
useful branches of knowledge which are proper to engraft on elementary 
attainments. A compliance with this recommendation will have the most 
benign mfluence on individual happiness and social prosperity. To break 
down the barriers which poverty has erected against the acquisition and 
dispensation of knowledge, is to restore the just fquilibium of society, and 



24 

to perform a duty of indispeasable and paramount obiigatioas ; aad imder 
this impression. I also recommead th&t provision be made for the gratuitous 
education, in our superior seminaries, of indigent, talented, and meritorious 
yonth. 

" I consider the system of our common echoola aa the palladium of om* 
freedom ; for no reasonable apprehension can be entertained of ita subver- 
sion, as long as the great body of the people are enlightened by education. 
Tt> increase the funds, to extend the benefits, and to remedy the defects 
of this excellent system, is worthy of your most deliberate attention.. The 
officer who now so ably presides over that department is prevented by hia 
other official duties from visiting our schools in person, nor is he indeed 
clothed with this power. A visitorial authority for the pm-pose of detect- 
ing abuses in the application of the funds, of examining into the modes and 
plans of instruction, and of suggesting improvements, would unquestionably 
be attended \%dth the most propitious effects." 

It will be perceived that the governor here shadows forth two of the 
greatest features of public instruction subsequently engrafted upon our 
system ; the establishment of institutions for the education of teachers ; 
and the appointment of visitors. 

On the 4th of February subsequently, Mi-. John C. Spencee, from the 
literatm-e committee of the senate, to which this portion of the message of 
the governor had been referred, made an able report, in the com-se of which 
he distinctly suggests the expediency and practicability of a plan of coun- 
ty supervision, without however, going into any specific details. Thus it 
will be perceived, that as early as 1826, several of the prominent featm-es of 
the admirable system which has since prevailed, were brought to the notice 
and attention of the legislatm-e, by two of our most distinguished and eminent 
statesmen ; one of whom, (Mr. Spencer) fifteen years afterwards, aided in 
carrying into practical and successful operation, the very plan in substance, 
which he had suggested at tliis early period. In the mean time, however, 
a similar suggestion had been earnestly and m-gently pressed upon the pub- 
lic consideration by another distinguished friend of the common school sys- 
tem — the Hon. Jabez D. Hammond; who in 1837 published a series of 
numbers in the Cherry- Valley Gazette, from whence they were transferred 
to other periodicals, showing as well the practicability as the expediency of 
the adoption of the system of county supervision and inspection, and m"g- 
ing the abolition of the office of town inspector. Judge Hammond's plan 
was the appointment by the governor and senate, or by the State Superin- 
tendent, of a County Inspector of Common Schools, in each county, with 
power to license teachers and visit schools, and who should be required to 
report periodically to the Superintendent. This was, in substance, the plan 
afterwards recommended to the legislatm-e by Mr. Spencer. 

The following extracts fi-om the report of Mr. Spencer in 1826, to which 
allusion has above been made, will be found interesting : 

"The committee couem- entirely in the sentiments expressed by the gov- 
ernor in relation to the importance of the vocation of a teacher, and to the 
propriety of occupying the time of the young in the higher branches of 
knowledge. The progress of improvement in the gi-eat business of educa- 
tion, must necessarily be slow and gradual. Our common school system is 
itself but of recent origin ; and during the few yeai's in which it has been 
in operation, incalculable good has been effected, particularly in causing the 
establishment of schools where none existed before, and where none would 
have existed but for its provisions. We cannot expect to make it at 
once perfect,' but must content ourselves with remedies for the most obvious 
and important defects as they are discovered. From the observation of 
the committee, and from the best imformatiou they can obtain, they are 
persuaded that the greatest evils now existing in the system are the want 
of competent teachers, and the indisposition of the trustees of districts to 
incur the expense of employing those who are competent, when they can 
be obtained. It is a iamentabie fact that from a mistaken economy, the 



25 

cheapest teachers, whether male or female, aad generally the latter, are 
employed in many districta for three-foutths of the year, and a competent 
iaatructor is provided for only one-quarter, and sometimes not at all, du- 
rixig the year. The state is thus made to contribute almost wholly to the 
support of teachers. This is a perversion of the public bounty ; and its 
eflfect on the children, who ought to be provided with the means of mstruc- 
tion during the whole year, is most disastrous : for those above five or six 
years old are thus excluded from school three-fom-ths of their time, which 
must be spent in mental idleness, and thus the most precious tune for edu- 
cation is utterly thrown away. The jjresent arrangement of the authority 
to license and employ teachers, contributes to this result. Teachers are 
licensed by town inspectors, themselves generally and neccssai-ily incom- 
petent to (letermine upon the qualifications of candidates, and willing to 
sanction such as the trustees feel able or disposed to employ. This is es- 
sentially wrong ; and the state, which contributes so large a portion of the 
compensation of the teacher, has a right to direct its application in such a 
way as to effect the object of procuring useful instruction. The remedy 
must be found in the organization of some local board, vested with the au- 
thority of licensing teachers and of revoking the license, and charged with 
a general superintendence of the schools within the prescribed limits. The 
division of the state into counties affords a convenient distribution _ of ter- 
ritory for these pm'poses. And if it be made a condition of receiving the 
public donation, that teachers thus authorized shall have been employed 
for a portion of the year, it is believed that the sure and inevitable conse- 
quence would be the employment of instructors much more competent than 
the average of the present teachers. In those counties where the popula- 
tion is small and scattered, the standard of competency will necessarily be 
low ; but it will advance with the means of the districts and with the pros- 
perity and intelligence of the coimties. In other counties, where candi- 
dates were more numerous, the qualifications, would be liigher. The teach- 
ers would become emphatically a profession ; men would devote themselves 
to it as the means of livelihood, and would prejjare themselves accordingly. 
Their character would advance, and with it their usefulness and the respect 
of their fellow-citizens. Such is an outline of the fii-st efforts, which, in the 
opinion of the committee, should be made to obtain able teachers. 

" The next object is to provide the means of qualifying the necessary- 
number of teachers. By the report of the Superintendent of Common 
schools made in January, 1825, it appears there were then in tliis state 
•7,642 school districts, that, then, is the number of teachers now required ; 
the best evidence that can be adduced to show that there must always be a 
sufficient demand for those who ai-e qualified. It is obvious that the sug- 
gestion of the governor, in his message respecting the establi.shment of an 
institution especially for the piurpoee of educating teachers, will not answer 
the exigencies of the case. It is entitled to much weight, however, as a 
means, in conjunction with others, to effect the object. But in the view 
which the conunittee have taken, our gi-eat reliance for nurseries of teach- 
ers must be plnced on our c.)lk•^■o? and aeademio.^. If tlicy do not answer 
this purpose they can be of very little use. That they have not hitherto 
been more extensively useful in that respect, is owing to inherent defects 
in the system of studies pursued there. When the heads of our colleges 
are apprised of the groat want of teachers which it-is so completely in their 
power to relieve,if not supply it, is but reasonable to expect that they will 
adopt a system by which young men whose pursuits do not require a know- 
ledge of classics, may avail themselves of the talent and instruction in those 
institutions suited to their wants, without being compelled also to receive 
that which they do not want, and for which they have neither time nor 
money. 

" Our academies also liave failed to supply the want of teachers, to the 
extent which was within their jwwer ; although it is acknowledged th^t iu 



26 

this respect they have been eminently, useful. But instead of being incited 
to such eiforts, they are rather restrained by the regulations adopted by the 
Regents of the University for the distribution of the literary fund placed 
at their disposal. The income of that fund is divided among the academies 
in proportion to the number of classical students in each, without reference 
to those who are pm-suing the highest and most useful branches of an Eng- 
lish com-se. With such encom-agement, how could it be expected of true- 
tees of academies that they should prefer a pupil disposed to study the El- 
ements of Euclid, sm-veying, or Belles-lettres, to a boy who would commit 
the Latin gTammar, while the latter would entitle them to a bounty which 
was refused to the former ? The committee are not disposed to censure the 
Regents ; they have merely followed the fashion of the times ; and it is 
believed that they are themselves alive to the importance of extending the 
usefulness of the institutions under their care, by adapting them more to 
the wants of the country and the spirit of the age. But if they should not 
be willing to extend the benefits of the fimd under theii- control beyond 
classical students, still it will be in the power of the legislatiu-e, and within 
the means of the state, to appropiiate a capital sum that will yield a suffi- 
cient income to compensate for this inequality, and to place the English 
student on the same footing with the others, and thus make it the interest 
of the academies to instruct them. And if this boimty be distributed in 
reference to the number of persons instructed at an academy who shall 
have been licensed as teachers of conanaon schools by the proper 
boai'd, it is believed the object of obtaining able instructors will soon be 
accomplished. 

" The committee have not been able to discover why, upon every princi- 
ple of justice and of public policy, seminaries for the education of females 
in the higher branches of knowledge should not participate equally with 
those for the instruction of males, in the public bounty. 

"In connection with these, the committee admit that the establishment of 
a separate institution for the sole purpose of preparing teachers, would be a 
most valuable auxiliary, especially if they were to be prepared to teach on 
the monitorial plan. They hesitate to recommend its adoption now, chiefly 
because the other measures which they intend to submit, and which they 
conceive to be more immediately necessary, will involve as much expense 
as ought now to be incm'red. But they fondly anticipate the time when 
the means of the state will be commensurate with the public spirit of its 
legislature, and when such an institution will be founded on a scale equal 
to oiu" wants and our resom'ces." 

The committee, after adverting to the embarrassments caused by the pre- 
valent diversity of text books in the several schools of the state, recommend 
an appropriation for "the printing of lai-ge editions of such elementary 
works as the spelling book, an English dictionary, a grammai-, a system of 
arithmetic, American history and biogrophy, to be used in schools, and to 
be distributed gi'atuitously, or sold at coat." "There can be no doubt," 
says the committee, "that a selection of such works as have been enumera- 
ted could be made by a competent boai'd, excluding all sectarian views and 
tenets, as would be entirely satisfactory to the citizens of this state." 

On the 1-ith of February, 1826, Azarl\h C. Flagg, of the county of 
Clinton, was appointed secretary of state ; and the administration of the 
common school system consequently devolved upon him. The interests of 
public instruction had been ably and faithfully guarded by Mr. Yates, who 
seems to have united to eminent talents as an executive and administrative 
officer, a lively zeal for the promotion of education and the difi^usion of 
knowledge among the great body of the people. His various reports 
exhibit an accurate practical knowledge of the working of the com- 
mon school system, in all its departments ; his decisions on the numerous 
appeals which were fi-om time to time brought before him, were character- 
ized by a sound discrimination ; and his efforts for the improvement and 
advancement of the schools were earnest and indefatigable. 



27 

The first annual report of Mr. Flagg as Superintendent of Common 
Schools was transmitted to the legislature on the 13th of March, 1826, from 
■which it appeai-ed that 425,350 children had been taught in the common 
schools durmg the year ; being 22,410 more than were taught the preceding 
year, and exceeding by 29,764 the number between the ages of five and fif- 
teen residing in the state. The whole number of organized school districts 
in the state was 7,773. The Superintendent alludes to the necessity of 
"some provision which should have a tendency to increase the number of 
qualified instructors," and adds : 

" It might be beneficial to oft'er facilities for the special education of com- 
mon school teachers ; and as the districts progress in wealth, and the dona- 
tion of the state is increased, inducements will be furnished for a greater 
number of persons of competent talents, to engage in the business of teach- 
ing, as a profession." 

At the opening of the session of 1827, Gov. Clinton thus eloquently al- 
luded to the subject of popular education : 

"The great bulwark of republican government is the cultivation of edu- 
cation ; for the right of suf&'age cannot be exercised in a salutary manner 
without intelligence. It is gratifying to find that education continues to 
flourish. We may safely estimate the mmiber of our common schools at 
8,000 ; the number of children taught during the last yeaj-, on an average 
of eight months, at 430,000 ; and the sum expended in education at 200,000 
dollars. It is, however, too palpable that our system is surrounded by im- 
perfections which demand the wise consideration and improving interposi- 
tion of the legislature. In the first place, there is no provision made for 
the education of competent instructors. Of the eight thousand now em- 
ployed in this state, too many are destitute of the requisite qualifications, 
and perhaps no considerable number are able to teach beyond rudimental 
* instruction. Ten years of a child's life, from five to fifteen, may be spent 
in a common school ; and ought this immense portion of time to be absorb- 
ed in learning what can be acquired in a' short period ? Perhaps one-fourth 
of our population is annually instructed in our common schools ; and ought 
the minds and the morals of the rising, and perhaps the destinies of all fu- 
ture generations, to be entrusted to the guardianship of incompetence ? 
The scale of instruction must be elevated ; the standard of education ought 
to be raised, and a central school on the monitorial plan ought to be estab- 
lished in each county for the education of teachers, and as exemplars for 
other momentous purposes connected with the improvement of the human 
mind, * * * * Small and suitable collections of books and maps, at- 
tached to our common schools, and periodical examinations to test the pro- 
ficiency of the scholai-s and the merits of the teachers, are worthy of atten- 
tion. When it is understood that objects of this description enter into the 
very formation of our characters, control our destinies through life, 
protect the freedom and advance the glory of our country, and when it ia 
considered that seminaries for general education are either not provided in 
the old world, or but imperfectly supplied by charity and Simday schools, 
and that this is the appropriate soil of liberty and education, let it be our 
pride, as it is our duty, to spare no exertion and to shrink from no expense 
in the promotion of a cause consecrated by religion and enjoined by patriot- 
ism ; nor let us be regardless of ample encouragement of the higher insti- 
tutions devoted to literature and science. Independently of their intrinsic 
merits and their diffusive and enduring benefits, in reference to their appro- 
priate objects, they liave in a special manner, a most auspicious influence on 
all subordinate institutions. 

"They give to society men of improved and enlarged minds, who, feeling 
the importance of inf<irmation in their own experience, will natiu'ally cher- 
ish an ardent desire tu extend its blessings.' Science delights in expansion, 
as well as in concentration ; and after having flourished within the precincts 
of academies and imiversities, will spread itself over the land, enlightening 
society and ameliorating the condition of man. The more elevated the tree 



28 

of knowledge, and the more expanded ita braachea, the greater will be its 
trunk and the deeper its root." 

On the 21st of February, Me. Spencer, from the literature committee of 
the senate, to which had been referred that portion of the message of the 
governor relating to common schools and the providing of competent teachers, 
brought in a bill, entitled, " An act to provide permanent funds for the annual 
appropriation to common schools, to increase the literatiu-e fund, and to pro- 
mote the education of teachers," which, with some slight amendments, became 
a law on the 13th of April following. This bill transferred to the common 
school fund the balance due on the loan of 1186, together with 1100,000 of 
bank stock owned by the state : and to the literature fund, from the canal 
fund, the sum of $150,000; the income of which, together with that of the 
?95,000 formerly belonging to the fund, was required to be annually distrib- 
uted by the Regents of the University " among the incorporated academies 
and seminaries of this state, other than colleges, which are subject to the vis- 
itation of the said Regents, &c., in proportion to the nmnber of pupils instruct- 
ed in each academy or seminary for six months during the preceding year, 
who shall have pursued classical studies, or the higher branches of English 
education, or both." From the report accompanying the bill the following 
extracts are taken, with the view of showing the design of the legislature in 
thus increasing the literature fimd. 

" Another object of still greater importance is the furnishing of competent 
teachers for the instruction of common schools. La vain wiU you have estab- 
lished a system of instruction, in vain will you appropriate money to educate 
the children of the poor, if you do not provide persons competent to execute 
yoxu- system, and to teach the pupils collected in the schools. The message 
of the governor and the report of the Superintendent concur in pressing thi8 
subject upon our attention with the most anxious solicitude ; and every citizen 
who has paid attention to it, and become acquainted practically with the 
situation of our schools, knows that the incompetency of the great mass of 
teachers is a radical defect, which iippedes the whole system, frustrates the 
benevolent designs of the legislature, and defeats the hopes and wishes of all 
who feel an iuterest in disseminating the blessings of education. There are 
8,1 14 organized school districts in this state ; and if there be added the schools 
in the city of New- York, in Albany, Troy and Hudson, not included in the 
returns, and the private schools which are established in almost every cotmty, 
we shall be justified in estimating the number of teachers required to carry 
on the business of instruction, at not far from ten thousand. This result pla- 
ces in a strong view the vast importance of the subject. From what sources 
can this supply of teachers be obtained ? And how can the great body of 
this multitude be rendered competent to their stations ? In a free govern- 
ment resting upon the intelligence of its citizens, these questions are of vital 
importance. 

" The governor has recommended the establishment of central schools upon 
the monitorial plan for the instruction of teachers. From the best considera- 
tion which the committee have been able to bestow upon the subject, and 
from all the information which they can collect, a doubt is entertained whether 
the monitorial plan is adapted to small schools in the country, or to the higher 
branches of education. The means of instruction in the ordinary mode must 
be provided. The colleges and academies ought to furnish competent instruct- 
ors, and indeed to them we are indebted, but chiefly to the academies, for the 
qualified instructors now employed. While academies are instituted, and by 
proper encouragement may supply our wants, the committee would doubt the 
policy of establishing central schools in their vicinity, which would necessarily 
divert from them much of their present support." After referring to the 
location of the several academies in different parts of tlie state, with the view 
of showing that in this respect they were capable of meeting the wants of 
the community, and that but few portions of the state were not adequately 
supplied with these institutions, provided they were suitably encouraged, the 
report proceeds to recommend a different standard of apportionment than the 



29 

one in operation, and an increase of the fund, specifically for the purpose of 
encouraging the preparation of a class of students, who might serve as teach- 
ers of the common schools. " The income derived from the literature fund, 
they propose in the bill herewith reported, shall be distributed among the 
academies in proportion to the number of students pursuing the classical 
Btudies and the higher branches of an English education ; and their object is 
to promote the education of young men in those studies which will prepare 
them for the business of instruction, which it is hoped may be accomplished 
to some extent, by offering inducements to the trustees of academies to educate 
pupUs of that description." " These are the considerations wliich have guided 
the committee in preparing the bill now presented. They have only further 
to say, that if any confidence can be reposed in the official communications of 
those officers of the government whose duty it is to give the legislature infor- 
mation on tliis subject, if the concurring testimony of all who have spoken or 
written concerning it can be relied upon, there is a radical, deep, and extensive 
defect in our common school system, which deprives it of much of its value ; 
and that defect consists in the want of competent instructors. From six to 
ten years of the most valuable portion of human life — of that very period 
when instruction is most easily imparted and most firmly retained, is absolute- 
ly wasted and thrown away. Every one in the least acquainted with the sub- 
ject knows that a boy, under proper instruction, can, and ought to know as 
much at seven or eight years old, as he acquires under the present system at 
fourteen or sixteen. Having undertaken a system of public instruction, it is 
the solemn duty of the legislatiu-e to make that system as perfect as possible. 
We have no right to trifle with the funds of our constituents by applying 
them in a mode which fails to attain the intended object. Competent teachers 
of common schools must be provided : the academies of the state furnish the 
means of making that provision. There are fimds which may be safely and 
properly applied to that object ; and if there were none, a more just, patriotic, 
and in its true sense, popular, reason for taxation cannot be urged. Let us aid 
the efforts of meritorious citizens, who have devoted large portions of their means 
to the rearing of academies ; let us reward them by giving success to then- 
efforts ; let us sustain seminaries that are falling into decay ; let us revive the 
drooping and animate the prosperous by the cheering rays of public benefi- 
cence ; and thus let us provide nurseries for the education of oui children, and 
for the instruction of teachers who will expand, and widen, and deepen the 
great stream of education, until it shall reach our remotest borders, and pre- 
pare our posterity for the maintenance of the glory and prosperity of their 
coimtry." 

From the annual report of the Superintendent for this year, it appeared 
that there were 8,114 organized school districts in the state— 341 new dis- 
tricts having been formed during the preceding year ; that returns had been 
received from 7,644 of these districts, in which 431,601 children had been 
taught during the year reported, being an increase over the number so 
taught the preceding year, of 13,864; the whole number of children resi- 
ding in the state, between the ages of five and fifteen, was 411,256. 

Speaking in reference to the practical operation of the existing system of 
visitation and inspection of the common schools, the Superintendent holds 
the following language : " The system of inspection mi^-ht be improved, by 
the appointment of competent persons to visit the fic)i"iils( of a county, or 
lai'ger district ; to investigate the mode of instruction, the qualifications of 
teachers, the application of the public money, and to inquire into all the 
operations of the school system. Such inspectors would aid the schools by 
their advice, and add to the stock of intelligence on the subject of educa- 
tion, by collecting information in relation to the condition of the schools, and 
the manner in which they are conducted ; and these inspections would be 
the means of more effectually a8c«3rtaining what the common schools now 
eiJect, and vflip.t they may bo made ta accomplish." The results of the sub- 
sequent adoption of this plan, in eubstance, has efiectually vindicated the 
pfeacience of the Superintendent, in this respect. The report goes on to re- 



30 

«omm6Qd, fii-at, " the establishment of schools in the several counties for the 
education of teachers ; " and second, " the gi-adual introduction of the sys- 
tem of mutual instruction." The improrement of the system of female edu- 
cation is also adverted to, as well as the propriety of furnishing the schools 
with a judicious selection of text books. " The course of instruction in the 
common schools ought to be adapted to the business of life, and to the actu- 
al duties which may devolve upon the person instructed. In a government 
where every citizen has a voice in deciding the most important questions, it 
is not only necessary that every person should be able to read and write, 
but that he should be well instructed in the rights, privileges aad duties of 
a citizen. Instruction should be co-extensive with universal suffi-age." 

The sum of $100,000 was this year apportioned by the Superintendent 
among the several school districts, in pursuance of the provisions of.aa act 
passed the preceding year, authorizing the annual distribution of this amount 
from the common school fund. The several laws relating to common schools 
were also revised by the legislature and repiiblished, with the necessary ex- 
positions and instructions from the department. 

Gov. Clinton, in his message at the opening of the session of 1828, again 
adverts to the subject of common school education, in the following terma : . 

" That part of the revised laws relative to common schools is operative 
on tliis day, and presents the system in an intelligible shape, but without 
those improvements which are requisite to raise the standard of instruction, 
to enlarge its objects, and to elevate the talents and qualifications of the 
teachers. It is understood that Massachusetts has provided for these im- 
portant cases ; but whether the experiment has, as yet, been attended with 
promising results, is not distinctly known. It may, however, be taken for 
granted, that the education of the body of the jjeople can never attain the 
requisite perfection without competent instructors, well acquainted with 
the outlines of literature and the elements of science. And after the scale 
of education is elevated in common schools, more exalted improvements 
ought to be engrafted into academical studies, and proceed in a correspond- 
ent and piogressive ascent to our colleges. 

" In the meantime I consider it my duty to recommend a law authorizing 
the supervisors of each county to raise a sum, not exceeding two thousand 
dollars, provided the same smn is subscribed by individuals, for the erec- 
tion of a suitable edifice for a monitorial high school in th^ county town. I 
can conceive of no reasonable objection to the adoption of a measm-e so well 
calculated to raise the character of our schoolmasters, and to double the 
powers of our artizans, by giving them a scientific education." 

From the annual report of the Superintendent, it appeared that the num- 
ber of school districts had increased to 8,298, from '7,806 of which retm'ns 
had been received, showing that the whole nmuber of children between the 
ages of five and fifteen, in the districts, was 419,216 ; and that the whole 
number taught in the common schools during the year rejjorted, was 441,- 
856 ; being an increase of 10,225 since the preceding year, and of 301,750 
since 1816. The aggregate amount of public money received and expended 
by the several districts, in the payment of the wages of duly qualified teach- 
ers, was $222,995.7'? ; of which $100,000 was paid from the state treasury, 
$110,542.32 raised l.)- tax upon the several towns and counties, and $12,45S.- 
45 derived from 1 'Ciil funds. 

The productive capital of the school fund was increased during the yew 
reported, $256,121.50, by the transfer of $33,616.19, the balance due on the 
loan of 1786 to this fund; and of $100,000 of bank stock owned by the 
state ; by the avails of the premiums received on the sale of the stock of 
the Hudson and Delaware canal company, amounting to $31,156.50 ; and by 
the sale of lands owned by the state at Oswego, by which $91,349 were real- 
ized for the benefit of the fund. 

The Superintendent recommends the affording additional facilities for 
common school instruction to children engaged in manufacturing establish- 
ments ; and suggests the appropriation by the commissioners of commoa 



31 

schools, of a portion of public money to each such establiehn\eat, according 
to the number of children to be benefitted by instruction. 

In 1829 the number of common schools had increased to 8,609, from 8,104 
of which returns were received by the Superintendent. The number of 
children be tween five and sixteen years, residing in the several districts 
from which reports had been received, was 440,118; and the number of 
children taught duiing the yeai- reported, was 468,205 ; being an excess 
of 26,349 over the preceding year. 

In 1830 the number of districts was 8,872 ; reporting, 8,292 ; in which 
were 468,257 children between the ages of five and sixteen ; and 480,041 
children taught ; being an increase of 11,836 during the year reported. The 
Superintendent, in his annual report, adverts to the " serious deficiency in 
the supply of competent teachers," as " the gi-eat obstacle which it is ne- 
cessary to remove before we can reasonably expect to accomplish the gi'cat 
result, and confer the enduring benefits which were anticipated by those 
who founded and those who have fostered our system of common school in- 
struction.'' " Those who have turned their attention to the subject of giv- 
ing a higher character to the common schools, in this, as well as in other 
states," he continues, '■ have recommended the establishment of seminaries 
for the exclusive education of tesichers. This would serve t<j multiply the 
number of those who would be qualified to teach ; but after being thus 
qualified at the ]>ublic expense, what guaranty would there be that such 
persons would follow the business of teaching, unless they could be as libe- 
rally compensated in a district school as in the other pm'suits of life ? If 
the inhabitants of the districts wore resolved to have none other than teach- 
ers of the highest grade, and would pay the highest premium for talent, om- 
academies and high schools would be thronged by persons fitting themselves 
for the business of teaching ; and all these institutions would practically be- 
come schools for the education of teachers. If the districts could be induced 
to give an adequate compensation, and constant employment to first rate 
instructors, then it would be eminently useful to establish seminaries for the 
special purjwse of training persons as professional instructors." " To secure 
permanent teachers, it is indispensable that the inhabitants of the districts 
should afford such reasonable compensation and constant employment as will 
induce persons of good talents to devote themselves to the business of teach- 
ing as a profession." " If the intelligent farmers in the districts would ap- 
ply a small share of their attention and practical common sense to this sub- 
ject, a revolution in the character of the schools would soon be effected." 

The Superintendent also adverts to the multiplicity of text books in use 
in the several schools, but expresses the opinion that the designation of any 
pai'ticular work or series of works, to the exclusion of all others, would be 
attended with injurious consequences, not only to the schools themselves, 
but to the cause of education generally. He remarks that '"great improve- 
ments are constantly going on in the chui'acter of school books ; the gi'eat- 
est experience and much of the best talent of the coimtry is enlisted in 
this business ; and the fruits of their labors are constantly giving them 
new claims to the approbation of the public. The adoption of a particular 
book would amount to a prohibition upon all improvements, and would 
subject the inhabitants to a loss of the prohibited books then on hand. The 
interests vf the common schools may be seriously injured, and cannot be 
essentially benefitted by the adoption by law of any book or set of 
books." 

The following is the earliest specific suggestion, looking to the establish- 
ment of district libraries, which I have been able to find. It is contained 
in Mr. Flagg's report for this year, (1830.) 

" A society has been established in England, for the purpose of imparting 
useful information to all classes of community, particularly to such as are 
unable to avail themselves of experienced teachers. To effect this object, 
treatises on the vai'ious sciences, an<l books of practical utility have b6en 
published at such moderate pi"ices as to bring them within the reach of all 



32 

classes. A small sum applied to the publication and distribution amoBg 
the several school districts, of similar works, would have the most farora- 
ble influence." 

It will have been perceived, however, that Gov. Clinton, in his message 
at the opening of the session of 1827, called the attention of the legisla- 
ture to the expediency of providing "small and suitable collections of 
books and maps," to be attached to the common schools. 

Gov. Thi-oop, in his message to the legislature at the opening of the ses- 
sion of 1831, thus alludes to this gi-eat interest of the state : 

" There is no one of our public institutions of more importance, or which 
has better fulfilled public expectation, than that providing for instruction 
in common schools. The large fund appropriated to that object has produ- 
ced a complete organization thi-oughout the state ; and although the system 
has had to encounter all the obstacles to a neAv eiiterprize of such magai- 
tude in its operations aud objects, yet it has been well seconded by pubiie 
zeal and liberality. Its imperfections may receive some correction from 
legislation, yet more is to be hoped from individual exertions to eaiTy the 
design of the legislature into effect within the several districts." 

From the annual report of the Superintendent for this year it appears 
that the whole number of districts was 9,062, from 8,630 of which reports 
had been made in accordance with law ; that the number of children be- 
tween the ages of five and sixteen- residing in the several districts from 
which such reports had been received, was 497,503 ; and the number of 
children taught therein during the year reported, 499,434, being an increase 
of 19,333 over the number so taught the preceding yeai-. The_ aggregate 
amount of pubiie money received and expended in the several districts for 
the payment of the wages of duly qualified teachers, was $239,713.00; of 
which $100,000 was paid by tlie State from the common school fund? 
and the residue derived from a tax on the several towns, and froni local 
fimds. In addition to the public money, there was paid by the inhabitants 
. of the several districts, on rate bills for teachers' wages, |346,807, making 
a total of $586,520 paid for teachers' wages alone. The average annual in- 
crease of the number of scholars instructed in the common schools, during 
the preceding eleven years was 20,000. 

The productive capital of the common school fund amoimted at this 
time to $1,696,743.66 ; and the revenue actually received into the trea- 
sm-y on accovtnt of this fund, during the year 1830, exceeded the sum re- 
quired for apportionment among the several districts by $678.60, it be- 
ing the first year in which the revenue had produced the sum requisite for 
this purpose. 

The Superintendent, in this report, examines and discusses at considera- 
ble length the various plans for the education of teachers, and recommends 
the conversion of the several academies, equal in number at that period to 
the counties in the state, into seminai'ies for training teachers. On this 
subject he remarks : " Tlie state has done much for these schools, aud some- 
thing in aid of the cause of the common schools may reasonably be expect- 
ed from them ; and if the required information to fit a person for teaching 
can be obtained in the present institutions, soimd policy and good economy 
are in favor of relying upon them for the training of teachers." He adverts 
in this connection to the proposition presented to the legislature at its pre- 
ceding session, by a committee of the citizens of Eochester, for the estab- 
lishment of a state seminary for the education of teachers, and a town cen- 
tral school in each town in the state, as a document exhibiting "much re- 
search and attention to the subject of common school instruction." In this 
memorial (legislative doemnents, 1830, volume iv. no. 387,) the committee, 
(Messrs. Penney, Comstock, Brown, Wai-d and Norton,) after recapitulatiiig 
the prominent defects in the existing condition of common school edacation 
submits a plan, designed 

"1. To fui'msh a competent supply of well qv.aiiiied teachers. 



33 

"2. To diffuse the benefits of good teaching, at an early period, through 
all the districts in the state, and to accomplish the intenti' 'U < »f the lair as 
to an efficient inspection. 

"3. To secure such a degree of respect and compensation to teachers, as 
to induce men of good talents and qualifications to make teaching a profes- 
eion for life, and 

"4. So to organize and govern the whole system of common school edu- 
cation as sufficiently to protect this great interest from eveiy kind of 
abuse, and to cherish it for the various useful ends it may be made to 
serve S 

"It is proposed t5 eflfect the fu'st of these objects by the establishment of 
say thi-ee state sftninaries, for the education of teachers ; the second, by 
promoting the erection of one central school of the most approved descrip- 
tion in each town, having the duties and services of its teacher so connect- 
ed with all the otlier districts of the town, as to secure the object of good 
teaching to all, ami gradually to qualify good teachers for the whole." The 
pajrticular details of the plan were also presented under the five following 
general heads : 

"1. Of the proper qualifications of a teacher. 

"2. Of a state seminary for educating teachers — it.s government — its 
course of instruction — admission of students — their diplomas and privi- 
leges. 

"3. Of the town central schools — their government, <fec. 

"4. Of an aimual meeting of the faculties, and report on schoul bcooks, 
•fee. 

"5. Of the government and general .'inperi:it''ndence of the whole. ' 

The great length of this document precludes its insertion here. It is, 
however, well worthy of a deliberate and attentive exai^ination, in the 
present advanced stage of educational science ; and its sound suggestions 
and practical views commend it to the favorable regards of all desirous of 
elevating and expanding to their utmost practicable limits the capabilities 
of om- imrivalled systein of public instruction. The condition of the com- 
mon school fund at the period when these views were presented, interposed 
an insuperable obstacle to the adoption of the plan proposed. This objec- 
tion has now to a great extent disappeared ; and it is believed that a sound 
and enlightened public sentiment will sustain the public authorities in 
cai-rying into execution, with such modifications and improvements as ex- 
perience has subsequently brought to light, the recommendations and sug- 
gestions of the memorialists, at least so far as a state seminary for the prep- 
aration of teachers is concerned. The Superintendent, in his report for the 
present year, also examines and discusses the question, how fai" the expens- 
es of supporting and maintaining the common schools, and supplying them 
with competent teachers, may advantag'cously be provided from the public 
funds of the state, and to what extent they may safely and successfully be 
committed "immediately to the inhabitants of the several districts. He 
compares the operation of our system in this respect with those of Penn- 
sylvania, Virginia, Connecticut and other states, in the two former of which 
the public funds were exclusively appropriated to the benefit of the chil- 
di-en of indigent inhabitants of the several districts, and in Connecticut, 
were lavished with an indiscriminate profusion, fVu-nisLing ample means for 
the gi'atuitous instruction of all classes. 

" Our system " he observes, " is well calculated to awaken the attention 
of all the inhabitants to the e.ineerns of the district school. The power 
given to district meetings to levy a tax, to a limited extent, upon the pro- 
perty of the district, excites a direct interest with all the taxable inhabitants 
to attend the district meetings, whether they have children requiring school 
accommodations or not. The wealthy are thus prompted to act as trusteed, 
and to watch over the concerns of the district, in order to see that its af- 
fairs are conducted with care and economy ; and much of the intelligence 
of the district is put iu requiaition by the peculiarity of our p]aa, whiclk 



34 

might be wholly lost to the districts if the whole expense of the tuition was 
provided by a state fund." " It has been urged, " he remarks, in another 
place, " that the amount distributed from our fxmd is too small, and that an 
increase of the fund would, of itself, raise the standard of the common 
school ; but an increase of the school moneys would be much more likely to 
decrease the contributions of individuals, than to elevate the standard of 
the common schools." At this period the amount of public money appor- 
tioned by the state for the payment of teachers' wages in the several dis- 
tricts, was $100,000 ; while the amount raised on rate bills was $346,80'7. 
The annual report of the Superintendent for 1844 sh^ws that while the 
amount of public money received from the state treasury^ applicable to the 
same purpose, was $220,000, the amount paid on the rate bills was $509,- 
dl6.9l only ; being $254,000 less than a proportionate amount under the in- 
creased fund coUtributed by the state. 

On the subject of a proposed imiformity of text books in the several 
schools, the Superintendent remarks, " no man or set of men could make 
out a list of class books for the instruction of half a million of scholars, 
which would give general satisfaction ; and there is great reason to believe 
that the experiment to produce uniformity would do more harm than it 
promises to do good. In view of all the difficulties which sm-round the sub- 
ject, the Superintendent believes that it is best to leave the selection of 
class books to the intelligence of the inhabitants of the districts and towns." 
In support of these views he refers to a very able report of the hterature 
committee in the assembly, made the preceding year, and which will be 
found in the fourth volume of the legislative documents of that year, (No. 
431,) of 1830. _ . 

In conclusion, the Superintendent observes : 

" The immeiffee importance of elevating the standard of education in the 
comm.on schools is strongly enforced by the fact, that to every ten persons 
receiving instruction in the higher schools, there are at least five hundred 
dependent upon the common schools for their education. In m-ging the 
importance of common schools, it is not designed to depreciate the gi-eat 
utility of those of a higher grade. In the discussions on the subject of 
popular education, it has in some cases been urged that academies and high 
schools were injurious to the common schools, by viathdrawing fi-om the aid 
of the latter, the patronage and care of those who are able to send to the 
former schools. There is nothing in om- experience which should induce us 
to look with disfavor upon the higher schools, and the patriot and philan- 
thropist, in estimating the means which are to contribute to the perpetuity 
of oui- happy form of government, will regard all our schools and seminaries 
as parts of the same useful and valuable system, from the university to the 
infant school." 

In 1832, the number of school districts had increased to 9,833, from 8,835 
of which reports were received. The Avhole number of children between 
five and sixteen years of age residing in the several reporting districts, was 
504,685 ; and the number taught dming the preceding year, was 49'7,25'7 ; 
being an increase of 7,463 since the last report. 

"The school system of K"ev/-York," remarks the Superintendent, "has 
been formed by combining the advantages of the diiferent plans of support- 
ing comnion schools which prevail in the Kew-England states. Connecticut 
has a large fimd which produces nearly or- quite the amount paid for teach- 
ers' wages, and they have no local tax. Massachusetts and Maine have no 
public fund, and the wages of teachers are provided by a town tax. Our 
system happily combines the principles of a state fund and a town tax ; 
enough is apportioned from the state treasury to invite and encom-age the 
co-operation of the districts and towns ; and not so much as to induce the in- 
habitants to believe that they have nothing more to do than to hire a teach- 
er to absorb the public money. The tax authorized upon the property of _ 
the town and district has a most salutary effect in awakening the attention 
of the inhabitants to the concerns of the common schools. The power of 



35 

diatriet meetings to raise money by tax, induces the inhabitants to attend 
the meetings, and to overlook the interest and proceedings of the district ; 
when, if the whole expense was provided by a state fund, they would al- 
low the trustees to receive and expend the money, as if it was a mattex* 
which did not interest the great body of the inhabitants of the district. 
Whatever differences of opinion may exist as to the best mode of providing 
for the expense of giving instruction to all the children of the state, the 
success which has attended our system warrants the conclusion that a pub- 
lic fund may be made eminently useful in organizing a system of universal 
instruction. The apportionment of a few dollars is often the immediate 
inducement for neighborhoods to establish schools where none existed be- 
fore, and for prompting new settlements to erect school houses, at an ear- 
lier period than they otherwise would have done, in order to participate 
in a fund, however small, which they know is enjoyed by other districts 
in their towns." 

In relation to the " vexed question " of text books, the Superintendent 
renews the expression of his opinion "that the adoption of a particxdar set of 
class books could be of no advantage except to the favored authors, to whom 
the monopoly of supplying the scholars should be given. Towards all other 
authors, who have devoted their time and talents to the preparation of 
books, as well as publishers who have embarked their fortunes in particular 
works, it would t)perate proseriptively and with manifest injustice." 

Administration of J on^ A. Dix — 1833 to 1839. 

In his message at the opening of the session of 1833, Gov. Marcy thus ad- 
verts to the subject of common schools : 

" Of all institutions, there is none that presents such strong claims to the 
patronage of the government as our system of common schools ; and it is 
g;ratifying to know that these claims have been recognized, and to a very 
considerable extent, satisfied. The wisdom and providence of our legisla- 
tion appears perhaps no where so conspicuously, as in the measm'es which 
have been adopted, and the means which have been provided for the gene- 
ral diffusion of primary education among the children of all classes of our 
citizens." After adverting to the information contained in the annual re- 
port of the Superintendent, relative to the condition and prospects of the 
common schools, the governor proceeds : " An active and adventurous spir- 
it of improvement characterizes the present age. Its best direction would 
seem to be towards multiplying the facilities, and consequently abridging 
the time and labor of acquiring knowledge. I indulge the hope that much 
may yet be done in this respect for primary education. One of the most 
obvious improvements in relation to common schools, would be a plan for 
supplying them with competent teachers. Under present circumstances, 
the remedy of the evils resulting from the employment of persons not prop- 
erly qualified, can only be applied by the trustees and inspectors ; and I 
am not apprised that any further direction for regulating their duties in this 
respect, could be usefully presented to the legislature." 

From the annual report of the Superintendent it appeared that in 1833, 
the number of school districts had increased to 9,(300 ; from 8,941 of which 
reports were received, in which there were 508,878 children between five 
and sixteen years of age, and 49-4,959 children taught during the year re- 
ported ; being a decrease of 2,146 since the preceding year. The Superin- 
tendent renews the expression of his conviction that the academies are ade- 
quate to the supply of competent teachers for the common schools. He al- 
ec again calls the attention of the legislature to the expediency of making 
some suitable provision for the education of the children of jiersons engaged 
in the various manufacturing establishments of the state. 

" The policy of all our laws," he observes, " is to secure a good common 
school education to every child in the state ; 'and the condition of the child- 
ren who are employed in the manufactories, as to their means of instruction, 
ought to be carefully inquired into and provided for. The diffusion of edu- 
cation among all classes of our population is deemed of such vital importance 



^ 36 

to the preservation of our free institutions, that if the obligations which 
Test upon every good citizen in this pai-ticular are disregarded, the persons 
having the custody of such children ought to be visited with such disabili- 
ties as win induce them, from interest if not from principle, to cause the 
children to be instructed, at least in reading, writing and arithme- 
tic. Intelligence has been regarded as the vital principle of a free govern- 
ment, and every pai-ent, guaa-dian or master, who neglects or refuses to give 
the children under his charge the advantages of a common school education, 
particularly in cases where the instruction is oifered " without money and 
without price," is as much an offender against the state, as the man who re- 
fuses to perform any other duty which is deemed essential to the preserva- 
tion of our liberties." 

On the 15th day of January, 1833, John A. Dix was appointed secretary 
of state and Superintendent of Common Schools, Mr. Flagg having been pro- 
moted to the office of comptroller. During the administration of the latter, 
a period of seven years, the number of school districts in the state had in- 
ci-eased from '7,773 to 9,600 ; the number of children instructed in them, 
fi-om 425,586 to 494,959, and the proportion of the ntmiber of children taught 
to the whole number residing in the several districts, fi-om 100 to 93, to 250 
to 249. The amount of public money annually appropriated for the pay- 
ment of the wages of approved teachers, had increased from $182,790.09 to 
1305,582.78. The external organization and internal details of the system had 
received the fostering care and enlightened attention of the most practical 
and discriminating minds of the state ; and the unequalled rapidity with 
which districts sprung up in every section of the state, and children of all 
ages and classes were gathered into the connnou schools, sufficiently indicate 
the general appreciation of the advantages and merits of the system, on the 
part of the people generally. To untiring industry and great efficiency, Mr. 
Flagg united an eminently practical mind, which enabled him, in the midst 
of numerous and plausible projects for the elevation and improvement of 
the system of popular education, to select and recommend those only which 
promised the realization of the hopes and aspirations of the sound and ju- 
dicious friends of the common schools ; and accordingly, while steadfastly 
setting his face against the adoption of an uniform series of text books, and 
of a state seminary for the instruction of teachers, as impracticable in 
the existing state of things, he strongly urged the* adoption of a more effi- 
cient and vigorous system of inspection and supervision, and several years 
in advance of any direct movement on the subject, recommended the publi- 
cation and distribution of suitable books for the diffiision of useful knowl- 
edge, among the several school districts of the state. 

During his administration of the common school department, the founda- 
tions were laid of those equitable principles upon which the various contro- 
versies growing out of the several school laws, were adjusted by the decis- 
ions of the Superintendent. Up to this period, no records of the adjudica- 
tions of this officer had been kept ; and the vai-ious questions almost daily 
presented for settlement had been determined upon their specific merits, 
without apparently any attempt to reduce the system to unity and harmo- 
ny, or to establish and maintain generaj principles of interpretation and de- 
cision. The decisions of Mr. Flagg, and his successor, Gen. Dix, were in 
1837, collected by the latter and published, for the benefit of the several of- 
ficers connected with the administration of the system throughout the state ; 
and they have not only served as a basis for the determination of the nu- 
merous and complicated questions which have since arisen, but have exer- 
cised a.highly beneficial influence upon the coimeils and proceedings of the 
officers and inhabitants of the several districts, by repressing litigation, by 
defining the powers, privileges and responsibilities of those called to the 
performance of any duty in relation to the common schools, and by the in- 
troduction and settlement of fixed principles of interpretation, applicable to 
almost • every emergency likely to arise in the practical opei'ation of the 



37 

From the annual report of Gen. Dix, as Superintendent of Commoa 
Schools, made on the 8th of January, 1834, it appeared thai there were 9,690 
school districts in the state, from 9,107 of which reports had been made in 
accordance with law. The number of children between the ages of five and 
sixteen, residing in the several districts from which reports were received, 
was 522,618 ; and the whole number of children taught in the several dis- 
trict schools, was 512,475 ; being an increase of 17,516 over the number 
thus instructed during the preceding year. In reference to the amount of 
the public funds provided for the support of common schools, the Superin- 
tendent expresses his opinion that the sum ($100,000) distributed among 
the several districts, was as great as was necessary to accomplish every ob- 
ject of such a distribution. " Experience in other states," he observes, 
" has proved what has been abundantly confirmed by our own, that too large 
a sum of public money distributed among the common schools has no salu- 
tary effect. Beyond a certain point, the voluntary contributions of the in- 
habitants decline in amount with almost uniform regularity as the contribu- 
tions from a public fund increase." " Should the general fund at any futm-e 
day be recruited so as to admit of an augmentation of the capital or revenue 
of the common school fund, or both, the policy of increasing the sum annual- 
ly distributed to the common schools, beyond an amount which shall, when 
taken in connection with the number of children annually taught in them, 
exceed the present rate of ajjportionment, would be in the highest degree 
questionable." 

With respect to the preparation of teachers for the common schools, the 
Superintendent concurs generally in the views of his predecessor, that the 
several academies in the state, aided by liberal appropriations for this pur- 
pose from the literature fund, are abundantly adequate to the accomplish- 
ment of the object in view ; that the establishment of one or more teachers' 
seminaries, devoted exclusively to this subject, would be impracticable 
without requiring the districts not only to employ such teachers when pre- 
pared, but to provide them with an adequate compensation — neither of 
which measures would for a moment be tolerated ; and that the demand on 
the part of the districts for teachers of a higher degree of qualification will 
be met by a corresponding supply from the academies, whenever sufficient 
inducements are held out to the latter to devote a lai'ge portion of their at- 
tention to the preparation of such teachers. An enlightened appreciation, 
on the part of inhabitants of districts generally, of the functions and respon- 
sibilities of teachers — a determination to secm-e the highest order of talent, 
and to provide an adequate compensation — and a disposition to elevate the 
character and advance the social rank of the teacher, by assigning him that 
station in the regards of the community which is due to the dignity and 
utility of his profession ; these are regarded as indispensable pre-requisites 
to the success of any system which contemplates the specific preparation 
of teachers. 

On the subject of the adoption of a uniform series of text books for the 
use of schools, the Superintendent also adopts the views of his predecess- 
ors, discountenancing such a measure as impracticable and unjust. 

In reference to the establishment of District Libraries, the Superintend- 
ent observes : 

" If the inhabitants of school districts were authorized to lay a tax upon 
their property for the purjDose of purchasing librai-ies for the use of the dis- 
trict, such a power might with proper restrictions become a most efiicient 
instrument in diffusing useful knowledge, and in elevating the intellectual 
character of the people. A vast amount of useful information might in this 
manner be collected, where it would be easily accessible, and its influence 
could hardly fail to be in the highest degree salutary, by furnishing the 
means of improvement to those who have finished their common school ed- 
ucation, as Avell as to those who have not. The demand for books would en- 
sure extensive editions of works containing matter judiciously selected, at 



38 

prices which competition would soon reduce to the lowest rate at which / 
they could be fm-nished. By making the imposition of the tax wholly dis- 
cretionary with the inhabitants of each district, and leaving the selection of 
the works under their entire control, the danger of rendering such a provi- 
sion subservient to the propagation of particular doctrines or opinions 
would be effectually guarded against by their watchfulness and intelli- 
gence." 

By an act of the legislatm-e passed this year, the surplus income of the lit- 
erature fund, beyond the sum of $12,000, was placed at the disposal of the 
Regents of the IJniversity, to be by them distributed to such of the acade- 
mies subject to their visitation as they might select, and to be devoted ex- 
clusively to the education of common school teachers. The fimds thus ap- 
propriated were estimated at about $3,000 per annum. 

At the opening of the session of 1835, Gov. Mai'cy, in his message, com- 
mended to the special attention of the legislatiire, the adoption of "a pro- 
vision for supplying competent teachers, improvements in the method of 
instruction, and the faithful and economical application of the fnnds to such 
objects and in such a manner as will insure the best results." He observes ; 
" In regard to the common schools, considering their great importance in a 
political and moral point of view, the efforts of the legislatm'e should not 
be intermitted until the system shall be so improved as to secure to the 
children of all classes and conditions of our population, such an education 
as will qualify them to fulfil in a proper mannei', the duties appertaining to 
whatever may be their respective pm-suits and conditions of life." 

The number of school districts at this period had increased to 9,865 ; the 
whole number of children between the ages of five and sixteen to 534,000, 
and the number taught in the several districts from which reports had been 
received to 521,240, or 18,266 more than were so instructed dui'ing the pre- 
ceding year. 

The following extract from the annual report of the Superintendent, 
transmitted to the legislature on the 7th of January of this yeai-, will ex- 
hibit the views of that officer in reference to the adequacy of the acade- 
mies to fiu'nish the common schools with a competent supply of duly quali- 
fied teachers, and also in reference to the relations which the various in- 
stitutions for the promotion of public instruction should sustain to each 
other : 

" If the foundations of om* whole system of public instruction were to be 
laid anew, it would, perhaps, be advisable to create separate seminai-ies for 
the preparation of teachers, although from the nature of om* institutions, it 
might be deemed arbitrary, if indeed it were practicable, to compel the 
echool districts to employ them. It would be equally difficult, without a 
great augmentation of the school fund, to present to the districts a sufficient 
pecuniary inducement to engage the individuals thus prepared ; and it may 
be safely assumed that nothing short of a thorough conviction in the public 
mind, that common school teachers are in general incompetent to the proper 
fulfilment of their trusts, and that the standard of education is extremely 
imperfect, would accomplish the object. If that conviction can now be 
created, the existing evils may be readily redressed. Our common school 
system is so perfectly organized, and administered throughout with so much 
order and regularity, and so many academies under able management are 
ali'eady established, that it would seem the part of wisdom to avail om*- 
selves of these institutions, to the extent of their capacity, for the pm-pose 
of training teachers for the common schools. Their endowments, their or- 
ganization, the experience and skill of their instructors, and their whole in- 
tellectual poAver, may be made subservient to the public purpose in view, 
and with the aid which the state can lend, much may be effected. But, 
whatever differences of opinion may prevail with regard to the foundation 
of this plan, in sound policy, the question has been settled by the legisla- 
tm'e, and it remains only to carry it into execution with proper energy. 



39 

Showld it prove inadequate to the ends proposed, a change of plan may then 
be insisted on, without being open to the objection of abandoning a system 
which has not been fairly tested. 

" It may not be improper to remark in this place that the necessary con- 
nexion which exists between our common schools and the literai-y mstitu- 
tions of the state, including those of the highest gi-ade, has been too fre- 
quently overlooked. The academies have already been, in effect, "without 
receiving from the state any direct pecuniary aid for the purpose, nurseries 
for common school teachers. The great body of those who have either tem- 
porarily or permanently devoted themselves to teaching, have been prepar- 
ed at the academies with a view to that occupation, or to some professional 
employment. The instructors in the academies have in their turn been ed- 
ucated in the colleges ; and but for the latter or some other system of 
classical and scientific education, as a substitute for the com-se of training 
piu*sued in the colleges, the academies would obviously be destitute of the 
necessary supply of tutors. Thus all our incorporated literary institutions 
minister to the improvement of the common school system, on which the 
great body of the people are dependent; for their education." 

The Superintendent, after adverting to the defective state of the systems of 
instruction in common schools, proceeds at considerable length to combat the 
idea that " the education which an individual receives, should be designed 
exclusively to fit him for the particular employment which he is destined to 
pursue." " The attention of the great body of the people" he justly remarks, 
" should be directed to objects beyond the sphere of the employments on 
which they depend for their support." " Knowledge carries with it influence 
over the minds of others, and tliis influence is power. In free governments — 
what is of more vital concern — it is political power." And he illustrates these 
views by a reference to the range and importance of the duties devolving 
upon every American citizen. 

On the 8th of January, 1835, Gen. Dix, as chairman of a committee of the 
Regents of the University, appointed to prepare and report a plan for the 
better education of teachers of common schools, submitted an elaborate and 
able report recommending the establishment and organization of a teachers' 
department, to be connected with one academy to be designated by the 
Regents, in each of the eight senatorial districts of the state ; indicating the 
course of study to be pursued in such departments ; and suggesting for the 
consideration of the Regents the academies to be selected for this purpose, 
which should each receive annually the siun of |400 from the fund applicable 
to this object. The report was agreed to by the Regents, and Erasmus Hall 
Academy in Kings county, Montgomery Academy, Orange county, Kinder- 
hook, St. Lawrence, Fairfield, Oxford, Canandaigua, and Middlebury Acade- 
mies were designated for the establishment of .these institutions, on the basis 
and subject to the restrictions and regulations indicated in the report. 

On the 13th of AprU of this year, the foundations of the District School 
Library were laid by an act authorizing the taxable inhabitants of the several 
school districts to impose a tax not exceeding twenty doUars for the first year, 
and ten dollars for each succeeding year, " for the purchase of a district 
library, consisting of such books as they shall in theii- district meeting direct." 

This bill was ably advocated in the Senate by Col. Young of Saratoga, and 
the Hon. Levi Beaedsley of Otsego ; and its friends were indebted for its 
success, in great part, to the untiring exertions and extensive influence of 
James Wadsworth of Geneseo ; an eminent philanthropist, who lost no oppor- 
tunity to aid, by his ample wealth and enlightened intellect, every means by 
which the mental and moral advancement of the youth of the state might 
be promoted. 

On the 6th of May, Mr. Wetmore, of New York, chairman of the htera- 
ture committee of the house, made a very able report, concluding with a recom- 
mendation for the establishment of a separate " Department of PubUc Instruc- 
tion," imder the superintendence of an officer to be known as " Secretary of 



40 

Public Instruction," to be appointed by the legislature triennially, in the same 
manner with other state officers ; who should possess the powers and discharge 
the duties of Superintendent of Common Schools, and be ex-officio Chancellor 
of the Regents of the University, &c. The several colleges and academies of 
the state were to be subject to his visitation ; and he was required particularly 
to visit and inspect those academies in which departments for the education 
of teachers were established. No definite action was however had on this 
proposition, by the legislature. 

The following is an extract from Gov. Marc/s message at the opening of 
the session of 1836 : 

" In a govei-nment like ours, which emanates from the people, where the 
entire administration, in all its various branches, is conducted for their benefit 
and subject to their constant supervision and control ; and where the safety 
and perpetuity of all its political institutions depend upon their virtue and 
intelligence, no other subject can be equal in importance to that of public 
instruction, and none should so earnestly engage the attention of the legisla- 
tm-e. Ignorance, with all the moral evils of which it is the prolific source, 
brings with it also numerous political evUs, dangerous to the welfare of the 
state. It should be the anxious cai-e of the legislature to eradicate these evils 
by removing the causes of them. This can be done effectually, only by diffu- 
sing instruction generally among the people. Although much remains here to 
be done in this respect, the past efforts of legislation upon the subject merit 
high commendation. Much has been already accomplished for the cause of 
popular education. A large fund has been dedicated to this object, and our 
common school system is established on right principles. But this is one of 
those subjects for which all cannot be done that is required, without a power- 
ful co-operation on the part of the people in their individual capacity. The 
providmg of funds for education is an indispensable means for attaining the 
end ; but it is not education. The wisest system that can be devised cannot 
be executed without human agency. The difficulty in the case arises, I fear, 
from the fact that the beiiefits of general education can only be fuUy appre- 
ciated by those who are educated themselves. Those parents who are so 
unfortmiate as not to be properly educated, and those whose condition requires 
them to employ their time and then- efforts to gain the means of subsistence, 
do not, in many mstances, sufficiently value the importance of education. Yet 
it is for their childi-eu, in common with all others, that the common school sys- 
tem is designed ; and until its blessings are made to reach them, it wUl not be 
what it ought to be. If parents generally were sensible of the inestunable 
advantages they were procuring for their children by educating them, I am 
sure the efforts and contributions which are required to give full efficiency to 
our present system would not be withheld. If I have rightly apprehended 
the indications of public opinion on this subject, a more auspicious season is 
approaching. At this time, a much larger number of individuals than hereto- 
fore are exerting their energies and contributmg their means, to impress the 
public mind with the importance of making our system of popular instruction 
effective in diffusing its benefits to all the children of the state. I anticipate 
much good from the prevalence of the sentiment that the efforts of individ- 
uals must co-operate with the public authorities to ensure success to any sys- 
tem of general education." 

From the annual report of the Superintendent, it appeared that the number 
of districts had increased to 10,132 ; the number of children between the ages 
of five and sixteen, to 543,000 : and the number taught in the several districts 
from which reports had been received, to 541,400, being an increase of oyer 
10,000 from the precediog year. The Superintendent repeats the expression 
of his conviction, "that a school fund so large as to admit of a distribution of 
money to the common schools in any degree approaching the amotmt expended 
for their support, would be likely to be injurious rather than beneficial. 
A school fund," he observes, " can only be useful when its revenue is sufficient, 



41 

aad no more than sufficient, to operate as an inducement to the inhabitants of 
school districts to contribute hberally to their support." " It is, from the 
nature of the subject, impossible to fix ftie exact limit, below -which a reduo 
tion of the sum distributed (including the amount raised by taxation in the 
several towns) would cease to operate as an inducement to the inhabitants to 
aasume the residue of the expenses of maiutauiing the schools, or beyond 
which its increase would render their burdens so light as to create inattention 
to the concerns of the districts. It may, however, be safely assumed, that, at 
any point between forty and fifty cents per scholar, it is not probable that 
eiUier of these evils would be felt ; and that its augmentation above the max- 
imum, on the one hand, or its reduction on the other, below the minimum 
above named, ought to be avoided, if practicable." The effect of the sub- 
sequent increase of the sum so distributed during the past few years, 
has certainly, it may here be remarked, by no means impeached the 
soundness and accuracy of tliis proposition ; the extent to which the schools 
have improved being clearly attributable to other and more potent influences 
than the augmentation of the public funds applicable to their support. 

At the opening of the session of 1837, Gov. Marcy again brought the sub- 
ject of common school education before the legislatm-e, in connection with 
the act of congress of the preceding year, authorizing the deposit of the 
share belonging to this state, of the surplus revenue of the United States, 
with the state for safe keeping, imtil required by the general government. 
He recommended the appropriation from the income of this fund, of aa 
amount equal to the sum annually distributed to the common schools, to 
be applied to the same pm'pose, viz. the payment of the wages of duly 
qualified teachers ; making the annual distribution for this pm'pose, $220,- 
000 — a liberal appropriation to the academies, " having in view principally 
the design of rendering them more eflicient as seminaries for educating 
common school teachers — and the addition of the residue of such income 
to the capital of the common school fund. He also recommended the trans- 
fer of the general superintendence and supervision of the several academies 
of the state, fiom the Regents of the University to the secretary of state 
iu his capacity of Superintendent of Common Schools, disapproving of the 
proposed erection of a separate department of public instruction, and sug- 
gesting the appointment of an additional deputy to aid the secretary in the 
performance of tliis portion of his official duties. He commends the eflforta 
ia progi-ess for the promotion of popular instruction by the diffusion of edu- 
cation thi-ough all ranks of the people, and the devotion of talents and 
wealth to this great cause ; and expresses his conviction, that aided by the 
powerful co-o2>c'ration of the legislatiu'e, its advancement may confidently 
be anticipated. 

The sum of §110,000 was this year apportioned among the several school 
districts, the number of which had augmented to 10,207. The number of 
ohildi'en between five and sixteen residing in the several districts from 
which reports had been received, was 538,398 ; and the number instructed 
within the yeai-, 532,167 ; being a dimiiiution of 9,234 from the number 
instructed the preceding year. This dimiuulinn is accounted for by the 
Superintendent, " by the prevalence of an absorbing attention, iu a consid- 
erable portion of the community, to their pecuniai-y interests rather than 
to the interests of education." " Strong excitements in the commimity," 
he observes, " especially when continued for a length of time, are in their 
natm'e unfriendly to the cause of education ; and of such excitements none 
is perhaps so much so as that which is characteristic of periods when for- 
tunes are amassed without effort and by the mere chances of speculation." 
*' In the year 1834," he continues, " the common schools were in better con- 
dition, in all respects, than they had been at auy previous time ; and, as is 
well known, that year was distinguished by a serious depression in the 
business affairs of the country. The interests of education seem never to. 
be better secured than in seasons when individuals are compelled to hus- 
band their resources, aud when the highest as well as the most certain re- 



42 

Tvards are those which ai-e the fruits of patient industry. No period seems 
less propitious to the promotion of those interests, than that season of de- 
lusive prosperity in which multitudes are tempted by a few instances of 
wealth suddenly acquired, to lay aside their accustomed avocations, and . 
embark in the precai'ious pursuits of fortune." 

In his message at the opening of the session of 1838, Gov. Marcy repeats 
his recommendations of the previous y,eai-, in reference to the proper dis- 
position of the revenue of the United States deposit fund, with the addi- 
tional suggestion that a portion of this fund be devoted to the purchase of 
District Libraries, in such of the several school districts of the state as 
should raise by taxation an equal amount for that object. In reference to 
the departments for the education of teachers connected with the respec- 
tive academies designated by the Regents of the University, he expresses 
the opinion, that however ably conducted, they must of necessity be in- 
adequate to the supply of the requisite number of teachers for the common 
schools, and suggests the establishment of county normal schools, " on prin- 
cipals analogous to those on which our system of common shools is found- 
ed." An increase of the number of academies provided with teachers' de- 
pai'tments, is also suggested, the additional expense to be defrayed from 
the revenue of the deposit fund. 

The number of school districts had now increased to 10,345 : the number 
of children between five and sixteen residing in the several districts fi'om 
which reports were received, to 536,882 and the number taught was 524,- 
188 ; showing a still further diminution of nearly 8,000 from the preceding 
year. 

Dm-ing this session the sum of $160,000 was added from the annual re- 
venue of the United States deposit fund, to the amoimt to be apportioned 
among the several school districts of the state ; of which $55,000 was 
is required to be expended by the trustees in the purchase of suitable 
books for a district library, and the residue for the payment of the wages 
of duly qualified teachers. An equal amount was also required to be raised 
by taxation on the several counties and towns, and applied to the same 
pm-pose. The residue of the income, after making certain appropriations 
to the colleges and academies, was added to the capital of the common 
school fund. 

On the 1th. of March, the Hon. Daniel D. Barnard, from the literatm-e 
committee of the house, submitted a masterly and eloquent report upon 
the general subject of public instruction, to which we regret that our limits 
compel us only to advert. Many important and valuable suggestions for 
the extension and greater efficiency of- oiu- systems of popular education 
will be found embraced in this document. No specific action, however, in 
accordance with the recommendations of the report was had. 

At the opening of the session of 1839, Gov. Seward called the attention 
of the legislature, in an especial manner, to the interests of elementary 
public instruction ; expressing his conviction of the paramount necessity 
of elevating the standard of education ; recommending legislative co-opera- 
tion in the furtherance of the effort to engraft the system of normal schools 
upon om- institutions for education, thi-ough the agency of the academies ; 
strongly commending the district library system ; and _ urging the indis- 
pensable necessity of a more thorough and efficient visitation and super- 
vision of our common schools. 

By the annual report of the superintendent, it appeared that the number 
of organized school districts in the state was, at this period, 10,583; the 
number of children between the ages of five and sixteen yeaa-s, residing in 
the several districts fi-om which reports had been received, 539,749 ; and 
the number of children under instruction, 528,913; exceedmg by 4,725 the 
number instructed the preceding year. 

In reference to the act of April, 1838, appropriating the income of the U. 
S. Deposit Fund to the purposes of education, the Superintendent ob- 
serves ; 



43 

" The acts of April last, after making certain appropriations for the sup- 
port of colleges, academies and common schools, from the income of the 
United States Deposit Fund, provides that the residue of that income shall 
be added annually to the capital of the common school fund. The income 
of the former fund will amount to nearly $260,000 per aimiun, and the ap- 
propriations referred to amoimt to $208,000, viz. : to the common schools, 
to be applied to the payment of teachers, $110,000, and $55,000 to the pur- 
chase of school district libraries ; to the literature fund $28,000, and to 
colleges $15,000; leaving a balance of about $50,000 to be applied to the 
increase of the last mentioned fund. Should this appropriation continue 
undisturbed, the capital of the common school fund will, by the yeai- 1850, 
amount to about $3,000,000, without any further provision for its increase ; 
as the sales of lands belonging to it may be expected to yield two or three 
himdred thousand dollars." 

On the subject of moral and religious instruction in the several schools, 
the Superintendent has the foUoAving sensible and judicious remarks : 

" However desirable it may be to lay the foundation of common school 
education in religious instruction, the multiplicity of sects in this state 
would render the accomplishment of such an object a work of gi'cat diffi- 
culty. In the state of Massachusetts it is provided by law that no school 
books shall be used in any of the schools ' calculated to favor any religious 
sect.' In this state no such legal provision has been made ; but the natural 
desire of every class of Chj-istians to exclude from the schools instruction 
in the tenets of other classes has led to the disuse, by common consent, of 
religious books of almost every description, excepting the Bible and New 
Testament, which are used in more than one hundred towns as reading 
books. The spirit of jealousy by which the schools are sm-rounded, regard- 
ed as they are as most efficient instruments in the formation of opinions, 
will probably render this state of things perpetual ; and it is of the greater 
importance, therefore, that moral instruction and training should constitute 
a principal branch of the system of education. No teacher can receive a 
certificate of qualification from the inspectors, unless they are satisfied as 
to his moral character. In this respect the inspectors cannot be too rigid 
in their scrutiny. A teacher whose moral sentiments are loose, or whose 
habits of life are irregular, is an imfit instructor for the young, whatever 
may be his intellectual acquh'ements, or his skill in communicating knowl- 
edge. The lessons of moral truth which are taught at the domestic fii'cside 
and the examples of moral rectitude and purity which are there displayed, 
will be in danger of losing all their benefit, if the school room does not re- 
inforce them by its sanctions. If neither the atmosphere of the family cir- 
cle, nor of the school, is free from impurity, to what other source can the 
young resort for those principles of morality which shall render their intel- 
lectual improvement subservient to useful purposes, and without which it 
might become an instrument to be wielded for the annoyance of their ieh 
lows and for their own destruction ? Though moral principles may have 
their origin in the heart, it is not to be expected that their proper develop- 
ment can be effected amid the perpetual counteraction of hostile influences. 
Moral cultivation should, therefore, be one of the first objects of common 
school instruction. The gi-eat doctrines of ethics, so far as they concern 
the practical rules of human conduct, receive the intuitive assent of all ; 
and with them may be combined instruction in those principles of natural 
religion, which are drawn from the observation of the works of nature, 
which address themselves with the same certainty to the conviction, and 
which carry to the minds of all observers irresistible evidence of the wis- 
dom, the beneficence .and the power of their divine author. Beyond this, it 
is questionable whether instruction in matters of religious obligation can 
be carried, excepting so f;u' as the school districts may make the Bible and 
New Testament class books ; and there can be no ground to apprehend that 
the schools will be used for the purpose of favoring any particular sect or 
tenet, if these sacred writings, which are their own safest interpreters, ai'e 



44 

read without any other comment than such as may be necessary to explain 
and enforce, by familiar illustration, the lessons of duty which they 
teach. 

" In connexion with this subject, it is highly gratifying to consider that 
the religious institutions of the country, reaching, as they do, the mpst se- 
questered neighborhoods, and the sabbath schools, which are almost as wide- 
ly diffused, afford ample means of instruction in the principles and practice 
of the Christian faith. In countries where ecclesiastical affairs are the sub- 
ject of political regulation, there is no difficulty in making religious instruc- 
tion the foundation of education, by arrangements independent of the ac- 
tion of those whom it immediately concerns. But the policy of om* law is 
to leave the subject, where it may be most properly left, with the officers 
and inhabitants of the school districts." 

In passing from the administration of Gen. Dix to that of his successor, 
it is scarcely necessary to observe that the exertions of the former, dming 
the six yeai's in which the interests of the common schools were committed 
to his charge, to elevate and expand the system of popular education, were 
unsurpassed by any of his predecessors. The impress of his clear, discrim- 
inating and cultivated mind, was stamped upon every feature of that sys- 
tem, and the order, arrangement and harmony wliich pervaded all its parts, 
were due not less to the ceaseless vigilance of its supervision than to the 
symmetry and beauty of the system itself In 1837 Gen. Dix, under the 
authority of the legislatm-e, collected together and published a volume of 
the decisions of his predecessor and himself, embracing an exposition of 
nearly every provision of the school act, and establishing, upon a permanent 
basis, the principles of futm-e interpretation and decision, in reference to 
those provisions. The system of district school libraries was also organized 
and put into successful operation under his immediate auspices ; and to his 
clear and convincing exposition of the principles upon wliich this gi'cat in- 
stitution was based, the ends it was designed to subserve, and the objects it 
was capable of accomplishing, a large share of the success wliich has at- 
tended its establishment thus far, is imquestionably due. 
Administration of John G. Spenc hr — County Superintendents — 1839 to 1842. 

On the 4th of February, 1839, the Hon. John C. Spencer was appointed secre- 
tary of state and Superintendent of Common Schools. Deeply impressed 
with the necessity of a more thorough and efficient supervision and inspection 
of the several schools, his first measure was to procure the passage of a law 
authorizing the appointment of a County Board of Visitors, whose duty it 
should be gratuitously to visit the common schools of their county, and to re- 
port to him the results of such examination, together with such suggestions 
for the improvement of these institutions as they might deem expedient. These 
visitors were selected from among the most intelligent citizens of the several 
counties, without distinction of party ; and under specific instructions from the 
department, most of the common schools of the state were visited by them, 
and a mass of valuable information respecting their condition and prospects, 
accompanied by suggestions for their improvement, obtained and communica- 
ted to the legislature. With great unanimity the plan of a county supervision 
through the medium of an officer to be appointed either by the Superintend- 
ent or by some local board, was urged upon the department and the legisla- 
ture ; and under the strong recommendation of the Superintendent, backed by 
the exertions of several of the most eminent friends of popular education, 
among whom may be enumerated the Hon. Jabez D. Hammond, who as early 
as 1835 had given to the public the details of a plan essentially similar; the 
Rev. Dr. Whitehouse, of Rochester; Francis Dwight, Esq , editor of the 
District School Jom-nal, then of Geneva ; Professor Potter, of Union CoUege, 
and James "Wadsworth, Esq., of Geneseo, this project became, in 1841, by 
the nearly unanimous action of the legislature, incorporated with our system 
of common schools. 

In his message at the opening of the session of 1840, Gov. Seward thus ad- 
verts to the subject of elementary education : 



45 

"Although our system of public education is well endowed, and has been 
eminently successful, there is yet occasion for tlie benevolent and enlightened 
action of the legislature. The advantages of education ought to be secm-ed to 
many, especially in oui- large cities, whom orphanage, the depravity of parents 
or some form of accident or misfortune seems to have doomed to hopeless pov- 
erty and ignorance. Their intellects are as susceptible of expansion, of im- 
provement, of refinement, of elevation and of direction, as those mi«ds which, 
through the favor of Providence, are permitted to develop themselves under 
the influence of better fortunes; they inherit the common lot to struggle 
against temptations, necessities and vices ; they are to assume the same domes- 
tic, social and pohtical relations, and they are born to the same ultimate des- 
tiny. 

"The children of foreigners, found m great numbers in our populous cities 
and towns, and in the vicbity of our public works, are too often deprived of 
the advantages of our system of public education, in consequences of preju- 
dices arising from difference of language or religion. It ought never to be 
forgotten, that the public welfare is as deeply concerned in their education as 
in that of our own children. I do not hesitate, therefore, to recommend the 
establishment of schools in which they may be instructed by teachers speaking 
the same language with themselves, and professing the same faith. There 
would be no inequality in such a measure, since it happens from the force of 
circumstauces, if not from choice, that the'responsibilities of education are, in 
most instances, confided by us to native citizens, and occasions seldom offer for 
a trial of pur magnanunity, by committing that trust to persons duTering from 
oui-selves in language or religion. Since we have opened our country and all 
its fulness to the oppressed of every nation, we shall evince wisdom equal 
to such generosity by qualifying their cliildren for the high responsibilities of 
citizenship." 

From the annual report of the Superintendent it appeared that the whole 
number of organized school districts in the state was 10,706 ; the number of 
children between the ages of five and sixteen, residing m the several districts 
from which reports had been received, 5 64,7 90, and the number of childi-en 
taught during the year reported, 557,229— showing an increase of 28,316 over 
the preceding year. 

On the 13th of April, 1840, the Superintendent transmitted to the legisla- 
tm-e the reports of the several Visitors of Common Schools appointed by him 
under the act of the preceding session, accompanied by a condensed abstract 
of their views and suggestions, togetlier with a full exposition of his own, in 
reference to the various proposed improvements and modifications of the sys- 
tem. In relation to the inspection of the schools the Superintendent ob- 
serves : 

" It has already been shown to the legislature, from the official returns, that 
at least one half of all the schools in the state are not visited at all by the 
inspectors. The reports of the Visitors show that the examinations of the in- 
spectors are slight and superficial, and that no benefit is derived from them. 
Many of the Boards unhesitatingly recommend the abolition of the office." 
" The Superintendent is constrained to express his concurrence in the opinion 
expressed by several of tlie boards of visitors, that the office of town inspector 
of schools is unnecessary, and rather an incumbrance on the administration of 
the system." He recommends the appointment of Deputy Superintendents 
of common schools for each county and expatiates upon the signal advantage 
to be secm-ed to the interests of the common schools by the"^ adoption of a 
system of visitation at once so comprehensive and efficient. He dissents from 
the views of the visitors in reference to the expediency of estab!i>hing normal 
schools in each county for the instruction of teachers ; being of the opinion 
that, the existing system of academical departments for this purpose was pre- 
ferable ; and he accordingly ct^icurs in tlie recommendation of his predecessor 
to incn^ase the number of those departments. He strongly urges the estab- 
lishment, under the patronage of the state, of a journal to be exclusively de- 
voted to the promotion of education ; the attainment, if practicable, through 



46 

the organization of some general society of an uniformity of text books for 
the use of schools ; some adequate provision for the vaccination of chUdren at- 
tending the common schools ; the introduction of vocal music as a branch of 
elementary instruction ; the extension of the official term of office of the trus- 
tees of the several districts, and of commissioners of common schools, ard the 
election, of one annually : the voluntary organization of county boards of edu- 
cation, and of town, county and state associations for the improvement of 
common school education ; the estabUshment in cities and populous places of 
schools of different grades under the charge of a local Superintendent ; and the 
denial of costs to plaintiffs in suit commenced against school officers in cases 
■where the com-t shall certify that the act complained of was performed ia 
good faith and in the discharge of official duty. 

On the subject of the proper preparation of teachers for the common schools, 
the Superintendent holds the following language : 

" The common school system of the state is comparatively of recent origin. 
The first law authorizing the establishment of common schools was passed 
about 26 years ago. In the management of the pecuniary and economical 
affairs of the districts there is nothing to be deshed. Greater regularity in 
the administration of this part of the system cannot well be fancied. But its 
defects become apparent the moment we enter the schools. All these defects 
centre in a common deficiency under which the Russian schools languished so 
long — the want of efficient and well quahfied teachers. One of the principal 
improvemements which have occupied the attention of the legislature and the 
friends of education during the last six years has been to supply this defect ; 
but in the pm'suit of this common object some diversity of opinion has pre- 
vailed with regard to the measures best calculated to accomplish it. Some 
distinguished advocates of the cause of popular education (and among these 
are found several of the chief magistrates of the state) have recommended the 
establishment of teachers' seminaries on the Prussian plan. The prevaiUng 
opinion, however, has been in favor of departments for the education of teach- 
ers, engrafted upon the incorporated academies of the state, with such en- 
dowments as to render them adequate to the object in view." 

" Although the proper objects of popular instruction are better understood 
than they have been at any previous time, the importance of the reform now 
in progress is not, perhaps, so generally appreciated as it deserves to be. It is 
but a few years since common school instruction was ordinarily limited to a 
knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic. The acquisitions which are now 
regarded as the means of education, were then sought as its objects and end. — 
No plan of education can now be considered complete, which does not embrace 
a full development of the intellectual faculties , a systematic and careful disci- 
pline of the moral feelings, and a preparation of the pupil for the social and 
political relations which he is destined to sustain in manhood. It must be con- 
ceded that the standard of common school education in this state falls far short 
of the attainment of these objects. But the aim of its friends is to introduce 
into the estabhshed system such improvements as shall ultimately secure their 
accomplishment. Is this a visionary hope ? Those who are most familiar with 
the practical workings of the system, beUeve that it is not. The whole reform 
will be accomplished by furnishing each school district with a competent teach- 
er. The application of the remedy is certainly surrounded with difficulties. It 
must be accompli^^hoJ by the gradual progress and mflueuce of opinion. The 
Prussian system not only prepares the teachers, but compels the school districts 
to employ them. Our whole system proceeds upon the principle of accomplish- 
ing by persuasion what the Prussian effects by force." 

" There is reason to hope and believe that opinion wiU gradually accompUsh 
what it seems difficult, if not impossible, to secure by compulsory measures. — 
No people are more quick sighted as to their true interests than the inhabitants 
of this state. They cannot fail to see that the education of their children will 
be best secured by employing competent teachers, and that the avenues to 
wealth and distinction, though open to all, are beset with difficulties for thoae 
T(vho enter them without the mental preparation which is necessary to enable 



47 

them to contend successfully against more favored competitors. These convic- 
tions may and doubtless will be, the fruit of time ; for they are to take the 
place of long established opinions, which are not often hastily eradicated. The 
reform of the Prussian system, as has already been observed, was gradual. — 
The teachers' seminaries were, for many years, few in number, and were alto- 
gether madequate to supply the schools. Our departments for the education of 
teachers have been in operation but little more than three years ; and there ia 
certainly much ground for encouragement in the fact that the demands of the 
school districts upon these departments, for teachers, have been greater than 
they have been able to supply." 

In reference to tlie plan of county supervision through the medium of local 
superintendents, he observes : " A regular supervision is indispensable to the 
success of every public or private undertaking. There is not a department of 
the government which is not subject to some duect and immediate control, and 
no individual appoints an agent for the management of any business, without 
reserving and exercising a superintendence over him. Conscious of the abso- 
lute necessity of such a provision in the common school system, the framers of 
the law endeavored to secure it by the election of town inspectors. But the ob- 
ject has not been obtained. The official reports show to what extent even the duty 
of simple visitation has been neglected. And when the nature of these visita- 
tions is considered, it will be obvious that if they were as frequent as might be 
desired, they could not accomplish the great purpose in view. To be of any 
avail, tlie inspection of schools must be conducted by those who are competent 
to judge of the qualifications of the teacher, and of the progress of the pupils, 
by examinations in the different studies piu'sued, and to suggest such improve- 
ments and modifications as will enable the student to derive the greatest amount 
of benefit from the schools. And time must be devoted not only to the schools 
and their masters, but to the trustees and inhabitants." " All writers on pub- 
lic education concur in the mianiraous and decided opinion, that effectual in- 
spection and supervision are more essential to the proper management of 
schools, and more indispensable to their improvement than any other agency or 
all other agencies combined ; and the Superintendent does not hesitate to ex- 
press his conviction that until they are provided, all efforts to improve the con- 
dition of the schools, to extend the range and elevate the character of the in- 
struction in them, will be utterly hopeless. M. Cousin, the celebrated author 
on popular education, attributes the success of the schools in Holland almost en- 
irely to the constant and unremittintj; mspection to which they are continually 
8 ubjected, and demonstrates that wherever schools have failed, in other countries, 
to meet the public expectation in the degree and amount of instruction, it has 
been owing to the want of such supervision." 

On the 15th of April, John A. Kino, Esq., from the committee on colleges, 
academies and common schools, of the assembly, submitted an elaborate re- 
port, accompanied by a bill embracing substantially the improvements and 
modifications of the system recommended by the Superintendent. Tliis bill 
passed the assembly on the 12th of May subsequently, by a vote of fifty-eight 
to forty-seven ; but no definitive action was had upon it in the senate, for want 
of time. 

The following are extracts from the message of Gov. Seward, at the opening 
of the session of 1841 : 

" The number of children attending the common schools is about 570,000 ; 
and the whole number of cliildren between five and sixteen yeai-s of age, as 
nearly as can be ascertained, is about 600,000. There are about eleven thou- 
sand common school districts in the state, in all of which schools are maintain- 
ed during an average period of eight months in the year. Of these school 
districts there are very few which have not comphed with the act providing 
for the estabUshment of school district libraries. * * * Although an 
injudicious choice of books is sometimes made, these libraries generally 
include history and biography, voyages and travels, works on natural history 
and the physical sciences, treatises upon agriculture, commerce, manufactures 
and the arts, and judicious selections from modem literature. Henceforth no 



48 

citizen, who shall have improved the advantages offered by our common 
schools and the district libraries, "wUl be without some scientific knowledge of 
the earth, its physical condition and its phenomena, the animals that inhabit 
it, the vegetables that clotlie it with verdure, and the minerals under its sur- 
face ; the physiology and the intellectual powers of man ; the laws of mechan- 
ics and then- practical uses ; those of chemistry and their apphcation to the 
arts, the principles of moral and political economy ; the history of nations, 
and especially that of our own country ; the progress and triumph of the 
democratic principle in the governments on this continent, and the prospects 
of its ascendency throughout the world ; the trials and faith, valor and eon- 
stancy of our ancestors ; with all the mspi)-ing examples of benevolence, vir- 
tue and patriotism, exhibited in the lives of the benefactors of mankind. 
The fiTiits of this enlightened and beneficent enterprise are chiefly to be gath- 
ered by oiur successors. But the present generation will not be altogether 
um'ewarded. Although many of oiu* citizens may pass the district library, 
heedless of the treasures it contains, the unpretending volumes will find their 
way to the fireside, diffusing knowledge, increasing domestic happiness, and 
promoting public virtue." 

" When the census of 1850 shall be taken, I trust it will show, that within 
the borders of the state of New Tork, there is no child of sufficient years 
who is unable to read and ^\Tite. I am sure it will then be acknowledged, 
that when ten years before, there were thirty thousand children growing up 
in ignorance and vice, a suggestion to seek them, wherever found, and win 
them to the ways of knowledge, and virtue by purs.uasion, sympathy and 
kindness, was prompted by a sincere desiie for the common good. I have no 
pride of opinion concerning the manner in which the education of those whom 
I have brought to your notice shall be secured ; although I might derive satis- 
faction from the reflection, that amid abundant misrepresentations of the 
method suggested, no one has contended that it would be ineffectual, nor has 
any other plan been proposed. I observe, on the contrary, with deep regret, 
that the evil remains as before , and the question recm-s not merely how, or 
by whom shall instruction be given, but whether it shall be given at all, or be 
altogether withheld. Others may be content with a system that erects free 
schools, and offers gratuitous instraction ; but 1 trust I shall be allowed to 
entertain the opinion, that no system is perfect that does not accomphsh what 
it proposes ; that our system is therefore deficient in comprehensiveness, in the 
exact proportion of the children that it leaves uneducated ;> that knowledge, 
however acquired is better than ignorance ; and that neither error, accident, nor 
prejudice, ought to be permitted to deprive the state of the education of her 
citizens. Cherishing such opinions, I could not enjoy the consciousness of having 
discharged my duty, if any effort had been omitted which was calculated to 
bring within the schools all who are destined to exercise the rights of citizen- 
ship ; nor shall I feel that the system is perfect, or liberty safe, until that object 
be accomplished. Not personally concerned about such misapprehensions as 
have arisen, but desiroiis to remove every obstacle to the accomplishment of so 
important an object, I very freely declare, that I seek the education of those 
whom I have brought before you, not to perpetuate any prejudices or distinc- 
tions which deprive them of instruction, but in disregard of all such distinctions 
and prejudices. I solicit their education less fi'orn gyropaihj than because the 
welfare of tlie state demands it, and cannot dispense with if. As native citi- 
zens they are bora to the right of suffrage. I ask that they n)ay at least be 
taught to reiid and write ; and in asking this, I require no more for them than I 
have dilligently endeavored to secure to the inmates of our penitentiaries, who 
forfeited that inestimable franchise by crime ; and also to an unfortunate race, 
which having been plunged by us into degrade tion anfl ignorance, has been ex- 
cluded from the franchise by an arbitrary pro|ierty qualification incongruous 
with all Our institutions. I have not recomn! ended, nor do I seek, tlie education 
of any class in foreign lang?aagcs, or in pnrticukiv creeds or faitlis ; but fully be- 
lieving, with the author of the Declaration of Independence, that even error 
may be safely tolerated where reason is left free to combat it, and therefore 



49 

indulging no apprehensions from the influence of any language or creed among 
an enlightened people, I desire the education of the entire rising generation in 
all the elements of knowledge we possess, and in that tongue which is the uni- 
versal language of our countrymen. To me, the most interesting of all our re- 
publican iustitutions is the common school. I seek not to disturb, in any man- 
ner, its peaceful and assiduous exercises, and least of aU with contentions about 
faith or forms. I desire the education of all the children in the commonwealth 
in morality and virtue, leaving matters of conscience where, according to the 
principles of civil and religious liberty established by our constitution and laws, 
they rightfully belong." 

In his annual report for the present year, the Superintendent strongly urges 
the continuance of the departments for the instruction of teachers connected 
with the academies, and the increase of the number of the institutions requir- 
ed to maintain such departments. "Normal Schools," he observes, "which 
are so strongly urged by some, must, after all, be essentially like these depart- 
ments and the academies in which they are estabhshed. There must be a 
board of managers or trustees, teachers, a building, books and apparatus. 
These are already furnished by the existing academics, and there can be no in- 
trinsic defect in them wliich should prevent their being made as useful as any 
normal schools. The change of name will not change the real nature of the 
institution. The sum of money which would be requisite to purchase ground, 
erect buildings for one normal school, and fit them for the purpose, would ena- 
ble at least ten academies to maintain similar schools in buildings already pre- 
pared, and under managers already organized. The Superintendent does not 
mean to under-rate those schools, nor to depreciate the benevolent motives of 
thee who recommend them. He acknowledges, and indeed eaniestly urges, 
the inestimable value and absolute necessity of institutions in which our youth 
may be prepared for the business of teaching. But he would use the means 
■we already have at hand for the purpose without incurring what pcems to him 
the needless expense of providing others of a similar character. He would 
respectfully recommend the extension of the public patronage to all the acad- 
emies in the state, to enable them to establish teachers' departments, and in 
those coimties where there are no academies, the establishment of normal 
schools. For the latter purpose there might be a provision, authorizing the 
boards of supervisors in such counties to raise the necessary sums to procure 
Buitable grounds and erect proper buildings ; and upon their being completed- 
appropriating from the funds of the state a sufficient sum to employ compe 
tent teachers." He, however, remarks in conclusion, "One model sfhool or 
more might be advantageously estab!i?hed in some central part of the state, 
to which teachers and tliose intending to become such might repair, to acquire 
the best methods of conducting our common schools." 

Professor Potter, of Union College, who. at the request of the department, 
had visited and personally inspected during the year 1840.6evernl of the teachora' 
departments connected with the academies, submitted a very able report of the 
result of his examination closing with tlie following; puggestic.n : " I would sug- 
gest whether some means might not be adopted for triiining a class of teach- 
ers with more especial reference to country common soliools, and to primary 
Bchools in villages and cities — teachers wliose attainments ^houhl not i'xt<'nd 
much beyond the common English br:;nches, but whose mind^ should be awak- 
ened by proper influences — who sliould be made familiar by practice with the 
best mixh's of teaching, and who should come under strong obliuntion-) to teach 
for at least two or three years. In Pruspi:i, and France normal scliools are sup- 
ported at the public expense ; most of tlie pupils receive both hoard ■iml tuitiim 
gratuitdusly ; but at the close of the course they i;ivo hond'^ to nd'und tlio 
whole amount received, unless they teacli, under the diiei'iion of the fjuvern- 
mriit, for a certain nuinher of years. That such schools, devoted cychi-ively 
to the prepnr.ition of teachers, have some ailvantagesover any n'hc.r inetlioil,ia 
sufficiently apparent from the experience of other nations ; and it bus occurred 
to me that as a xiipplemeyitarjf to our present system, the establishment of <ine ia 
this state might be eminently useful. If nLiced unJer proper au^pico8, aiid lo- 
4 



50 

cated near the capitol, where it could enjoy the supervision of the Superintend- 
ent of Common Schools, and be visited by the members of the legislature, it 
might contribute in many ways to raise the tone of instruction throughout the 
state." 

The Superintendent renewed his recommendation of such a modification of 
the common school system, as was suggested in his report of the preceding 
year. He contrasts the present situation of the schools with their condition 
in 1815, the number of organized and reporting districts having increased from 
2,631 to 10,397 ; the number of children instructed from 140,706 to 572,995 ; 
and the amount paid from the treasury towards defraying the compensation of 
teachers from $46,398 to $220,000 ; and after referring to the fact that $275,- 
000 were annually distributed in taxes, and neai-ly $500,000 on rate-bills, for 
the support of the schools, observes, " A people who have thus freely expend- 
ed theii' money and appropriated their private means for the education of their 
children, to an amount nearly double the expense of administering the govern- 
ment cannot with any truth or justice, be said to be indifferent to the subject. 
And when we find thirty thousand trustees of school districts gratuitously ren- 
dering their services, and making their returns with order, regularity and 
promptitude, we ought not to deny their appreciation of the value of the labor 
in which they engage, nor their merit in performing it. It is no slight proof 
of the value of a system which is thus administered without compulsion. Its 
fruits are seen in the education of one-fourth of an entire population, and of 
nearly every child of a proper age for the primary schools ; in the advance of 
the wages paid to teachers, a clear indication that a higher degree of talent is 
employed and appreciated ; and in the interest almost universally excited among 
onr fellow-citizens of every class, in the success of the effort. StiU, like every 
other human institution, it is susceptible of constant improvement. This is not 
to be accomplished by sudden changes which derange the machinery, and which, 
when effected, will probably be found to requu-e alteration ; and least of all by 
those schemes which are so comprehensive as to be incapable of practical exe- 
cution. Amendments, when experience has indicated their necessity, may be 
gradually incorporated in the system, without obstructing it. And the intro- 
duction of new elements to aid, invigorate and sustain what we have, and in 
keeping with it, will be more likely to accomplish theii' purpose than if they 
were antagonistic to what is ali-eady estabUshed." 

On the 26th of May, 1841, the legislature, by a nearly unanimous vote, pas- 
sed the act drawn up by Mr. Spencer, and reported by the literature commit- 
tees of the two houses, providing for the appointmeut by the board of super- 
visors of each county, biennially, of a Coimty Superintendent of common schools, 
charged with the general supervision of the interests of the several 'schools un- 
der his jurisdiction. The various powers, functions and duties of this officer, 
will hereafter be more particularly adverted to. The number of town inspect- 
ors of schools was reduced to two ; the qualii3cations of voters at school district 
meetings, specifically defined ; provisions made for the estabhshment of schools 
for the instruction of colored children ; a subscription for so many copies of a 
monthly periodical exclusively devoted to the cause of education, as should 
supply each district in the state, authorized ; and various minor amendments in 
the details of the system made. 

Under this act, County Superintendents were appointed in the various coun- 
ties of the state ; and under full and ample instructions from the Superintend- 
ent, entered in the succeeding winter upon the discharge of their official duties. 
S. S. Randall, then a clerk in the dejDartment, was appointed by Mi-. Spencer, 
general Deputy Superintendent, in accordanice with one of the provisions of 
the act. 

By an ordinance of the Regents of the University, of the 4th of May, 1841, 
the sum of $300 was directed to be annually apportioned to two academies in 
each of the Senate districts, for the maintenance of the departments for the 
education of teachers of common schools ; in addition to which seven other ac- 
ademies were provided with similar departments, under the act of 1838, requi- 
ring their establishment in every institution receiving a share of the Uterature 



51 

fund equal to $700 per annum. In October of this year Mi-. Spencer was 
transferred to a seat in the Cabinet, as Secretary of War ; and by a provision 
in the act of 1841, above referred to, the duties of Superintendent of Common 
Schools devolved upon his general deputy, until the vacancy was filled by the 
legislature in the month of February ensuing. 

Of the energy, ability and transcendent success with which the brief admin- 
istration of Mr. Spencer was conducted, it would be superfluous here to speak. 
The value and importance of the reform effected under his auspices, and cliief- 
ly through his indefatigable exertions, in the system of common schools, by 
the adoption of the plan of local supervision through the agency of County 
Superintendents, will be best appreciated by the fact that every successive 
legislatm-e since convened, tlu-ough every mutation of party, has, with unex- 
ampled unanimity, sanctioned and sustained the system so devised and matur- 
ed : that the practical operation of that system has immeasurably elevated 
the condition of the common schools thi'oughout the state, advanced the stand- 
ard of popular education, enlisted the efficient co-operation of an enhghtened 
public sentiment, and laid the foundations for that universal diffusion of know- 
ledge, which under the guidance of sound moral and religious principles, is 
destined to sustain, and we would fain hope, to perpetuate, the fabric of our 
free institutions. 

On the 5th of January, 1842, the acting Superintendent, (S. S. Randall) 
transmitted to the legislature the annual report required from the department, 
from which it appeai-ed that the whole nunft)er of school districts in the state 
was 10,886 ; the number of children between the ages of five and sixteen, resi- 
ding in the several districts from which reports had b6en received (exclusive of 
the city of New York,) 583,347, and the number of children under instruction 
603,583, being an increase of 30,588 over that of the preceding year. 

Administration of Samcel Young — Town Superintendents, Normal School 
and Teachers' Institutes — 1842 to 1846. 

On the 7th of February succeeding, the Hon. Samuel Young, of Saratoga, wa^s 
appointed Secretary of State and Superintendent of Common Schools ; and in 
May following he met the several county superintendents in convention at 
Utica, and possessed himself of a thorough acquaintance with the details and 
practical opei'ations of the system whch he had been called upon to supervise. 
In his first annual report, (Jan. 12, 1843) he recommended the reduction of 
the academical departments for the education of teachers of common schools 
to four, and the appropriation of a sufficient sum to establish and maintain a 
normal school at the seat of government, where it might be subjected to the 
immediate supervision as well of the department as of the representativesof 
the people during the sessions of the legislature ; tlie abolition of the offices of 
commissioner and inspector of common schools, and the substitution of a town 
superintendent ; the extension of the official term of trustees of school districts 
to three years, one to be elected annually ; the vesting of appellate powers in 
the first instance in the several county superintendents ; the perpetuation of the 
district library system, with suitable modifications and restrictions, and various 
other incidental and minor reforms of the system : most of which, with the ex- 
ception of that portion relating to a normal school, in pursuance of his sugges- 
tions, and on an able and argumentative report from Mr. Hulburd, of St. Law- 
rence, chairman of the committee on colleges, academies and common schools, of 
the assembly, were incorporated by the legislature in the act of April 16, 1843. 
At this period the number of school districts had attained the number of 10,893 ; 
the number of children between 5 and 16, residing in the several reporting dis- 
tricts, was 601,765, and the whole number under instruction 598,749. The Su- 
perintendent acknowledges a " decided predisposition " on his accession to of- 
fice, " to exercise whatever influence he might possess " for the abohtion of 
the system of comity supervision. But after attending the convention of coun- 
ty superintendents, and possessing himself of a thorough acquaintance with the 
previous defects and present advantages of that system, he thus sums up the 
conclusions to which he had arrived : 



52 

" Deputy Superintendents properly qualified for the discharge of their funo- 
tions, possessing a competent knowledge of the moral, intellectual, and physi- 
cal sciences, familiar with all the modern improvements in elementary instruc- 
tion, and earnestly intent on elevating the condition of our common schools, 
can do much more to accomplish this desirable result, than all the other offi- 
cers connected with the system. Acting on a broader theatre, they can per- 
form more efficiently all that supervision which has heretofore been so deplora- 
bly neglected, or badly executed. The system of deputy superintendents is 
capable of securing, and can be made to secure, the following objects : 

" It can produce a complete and efficient supervision of all the schools of the 
state, in reference as well as to their internal management, as to their external 
details : 

" It can be made to unite all the schools of the state into one great system ; 
making the advancement of each the ambition of all ; furnishing each with the 
means of attaining the highest standard of practical excellence, by communica- 
ting to it every improvement discovered or suggested in every or any of the 
others : 

" It can do much towards dissipating the stohd indifference which paralyses 
many portions of the community, and towards arousing, enlightening and enhst- 
ing public sentiment, in the great work of elementary instruction, by systematic 
and periodical appeals to the inhabitants of each school district, in the form of 
lectures, addresses, &c. 

" It can be made to dismiss from our schools all immoral and incompetent 
teachers, and to secure the services of such only as are qualified and efficient, 
thereby elevating the grade of the schoolmaster, and infusing new vitality inta 
the school. 

" An attentive examination of the interesting reports of the deputy superin- 
tendents wiU clearly show that the accomplishment of several of the most im- 
portant of these objects is already in a state of encouraging progression. 

" In these times of commercial paralysis, monetary pressure and impending 
taxation, superinduced by causes which were clearly foreseen, and might easi- 
ly have been obviated, it is very far from the intention of the Superintendent 
to advocate any system which shall add weight to the existing burdens of the 
community. Instead of this, it will be manifest tliat the system of deputy su- 
perintendents can be made to supersede official duty heretofore badly perform- 
ed, and taxation heretofore imposed with little resulting utility, to an amount 
greatly exceeding the expenses of this system." 

Gov. BoucK, in his annual message to the legislature of 1844, thus alludes 
to the condition and prospects of the common schools : 

" No interest of the State is entitled to a more favorable regard, or a greater 
share of attention at the hands of the legislature, than that of public instruc- 
tion. Tiie intellectual and moral culture of the six or seven hundred thousand 
children who are spei^dily to succeed the generation now on (he t-tage of ac- 
tive life, and to ast^umethe duties and respons^ibilities, as well of government as 
of society, in all its departments, involves, in its con-'^equcnces, the existence 
and destinies of the liepublic itself, and cannot be neglected without danger 
to the vital intere-^ts ol free institutitiiis. The elementary education of the 
youth of tl'.e state lias attracted tlie attenlicn, and occnjiied a prominent posi- 
tion in the policy of tiie executive mid legislative ilt'[)artnientj, Uvm a very 
early period of our existence as a state. A perpetual fiind. the revenue of 
whicii, for several years past, has secured an a: inual apportionment from llie 
the treasury, i'ur the benefit of ilie common siliools, <if ii 1 l(i,Oiiii, has been spe- 
cilically aj^pinpriated. by a provision of the coiuslitution, to this iibject ; ;nid 
since the year 18:-;9, (he additional amount of $;i()'i,tiOii has nnniiallj' been ap- 
piopriated. bv the libeial and enlightined policy of tlie state, f'r(ini the reve- 
nue (if the United States |iepo-ile Fund, to tiie same objeet, an<i fo llie pro- 
cuiement of conmion irchool libraries in the fevcial t(li<;«l tiistricts of the 
state An amount in the a^i;regate equal fo tlie.-e two sums (.'jii275.l CO) is le- 
quiicd to be annually rai>etl njon the taxable propeity in the several towns j 
and tli<; proceeds of this fund, augmented by nearly an equal amount, contribu- 



53 

ted by the inhabitants of the several districts, on rate bills, by varioug local 
funds, and by sums voluntarily raised for this purpose by the inhabitants of 
the towns, are apphed exclusively to the payment of the wages of competent 
and approved teachers, and to the purchase of suitable books for the school 
district libraries. 

" The substitution of a single officer, charged with the supervision of the 
common schools of each town, for the Board of Commissioners and inspectors 
formerly existing, in connection with the supervisory and appellate powers of 
the several county Superintendents, as defined by the law of the last session, 
seems to have met with the general approbation and concurrence of the peo- 
ple. Conventions and associations of the friends of education have, dur- 
ing the past year, been held in almost every section of the state, indicating a 
concentration of interest, and a direction of effort to this great subject, which 
cannot fail of producing the most salutary results. The standard of qualifica- 
tion of teachers has been materially advanced ; parents and the people gener- 
ally manifest an increased interest in the welfare and prosperity of these ele- 
mentary institutions of learning ; and there are the most abundant reasons 
for anticipating a steady and continued improvement in all the elements of our 
extended system of common school education." 

There were in the state, as appears by the annual report of the Superiu- 
tendent, (Jan. 13, 1844) 10,875 organized school districts, 670,995 children 
between the ages of five and sixteen, exclusive of those residing in the city 
of New York ; and 657,782 children taught dm-ing the year. " We may 
reasonably," observes the Superiuteodent, " congratulate ourselves upon the 
accession of a new order of things, in relation to the practical workings of 
our system. Through the medium of an efficient county and town super- 
rision, we have succeeded not only in preparing the wajr for a corps of 
teachers thoroughly competent to communicate physical, intellectual and 
moral instruction — themselves enlightened and capable of enlightening 
their pupils — but also in demolishing the numerous barriers which have 
hitherto prevented all intercommunication between the several districts. 
An extended feeling of interest in the condition and progress of the school 
has been awakened ; and in addition to the periodical inspection of the 
county and town superintendendents, the trustees and inhabitants ai"e now, 
in many portions of the state, beginning to visit the schools of their dis- 
tricts ; striving to ascertain their advancement ; to eneom-age the exertions 
of teachers and pupils, and to remove every obstacle resulting from their 
previous indifference. Incompetent teachers are beginning to find the 
avenues to the common school closed against them ; and the demand on 
the part of the districts for a higher grade of instructors, is creating a 
supply of enlightened educators, adequate to the task of advancing the 
youthful mind in its inci^iient efforts to acquire knowledge. The impetus 
thus communicated to the schools of one toAvn and county, is speedily 
diffused to those of others. Through fi-equent and periodical meetings of 
town and county associations of teachers and fi-iends of education, the 
improvements adopted in any one district are made known to all ; and 
the experience, observations and suggestions of each coimty Superintendent, 
annually communicated through their reports, to all. By these means the 
stream of popular education, purified at its source and relieved from many 
of its former obstructions, is dispensing its invigorating waters over a very 
considerable portion of the state. 

" The reports of the several county Superintendents exhibit imequivocal 
evidence of effiicent exertions on their pai-t, in the performance of the res- 
ponsible duties assigned them by law and by the instructions of this 
department. To their efforts is to be attributed, to a very gieat extent, the 
revolution in public sentiment, by which the district school fi-om being the 
object of general aversion and reproach, begins to attract the attention and 
regard of all. To their enlightened labors for the elevation and advance- 
ment of these elementary institutions, we owe it in a great measure, that 
new and improved modes of teaching, of government and of discipline have 



54 

succeeded in a very large proportion of the districts, to those which have 
hitherto prevailed ; that a higher grade of qualifications for teachers has 
been almost universally required ; that pai-ents have been induced to visit 
and take an interest in the schools ; that private and select schools have 
been to a considerable extent discountenanced, and the entire energies of 
the inhabitants of districts concentrated on the district school ; and that 
the importance, the capabilities and extended means of usefulness of these 
nurseries of knowledge and virtue, are beginning to be adequately appre- 
ciated in nearly every section of the state. Collectively considered, these 
officers have well vindicated the confidence reposed in them by the legis- 
lature and the people, and justified the anticipation of the friends of edu- 
tion." 

The attention of the friends of Common School Education was now power- 
fully and systematically directed to the subject of a State Normal School 
for the proper instruction and preparation of teachers. To this end, Mr. 
HuLBURD, of St. Lawrence, who was again at the head of the Assembly 
Committee on Colleges, Academies and common schools, visited, dm'ing the 
eai-ly part of the session, the several Normal Schools of Massachusetts, ob- 
served their pai'ctical working, made himself thoroughly acquainted with 
the principles upon which they were founded, and collected a valuable 
body of information in regard to the general history and specific operations 
of similar institutions in Europe. 

On the 22d of March, he submitted an elaborate and eloquent report, 
embracing the entire subject, reviewing the legislation of the State in refer- 
ence to the vai-ious appropriations made from the literature fund, to the 
several Academies, foi«the purpose of organizing and establishing Teachers 
Departments ; showing that these institutions were wholly ineomptent to 
supply the demand for competent teachers, throughout the state ; giving 
a concise history of the origin and progress of Normal Schools in Europe and 
America, with a detailed account of theii- operations in Massachusetts ; and 
strongly recommending the appropriation fi-om the income of the literatui'e 
fund of $9,000 for the establishment, and $10,000 annually thereafter for 
the support and maintenance of a State Normal School, ,to be located in 
the city of Albany, for the education and proper preparation of teachers of 
common schools, of both sexes, and to be composed of pupils selected from 
the several counties of the state in proportion to the representation of such 
counties in the popular branch of the Legislature. 

After a full recapitulation of the previous legislation of the state, in refer- 
ence to Academical Departments for the instruction of teachers the com- 
inittee observe : 

" It will appear that the principal reliance of the friends and supporters 
of the common schools for an adequate supply of teachers has, fi'om a very 
eai'ly period, been upon the academies — that the inability of the latter to 
supply this demand, induced, in 182*7 an increase of $150,000 of the fund 
^applicable to their support, and this for the express purpose of enabling them 
to accomplish this object : that the Regents of the University, the guardians 
of these institutions, characterized this increase of the fund as an unwonted 
and extraordinary act of liberality on the part of the state towards them — 
explicitly recognized the condition, or rather the avowed expectations on 
which it was granted — accepted the trust, and undertook to perform those 
conditions and to fulfil those expectations : that, to use the language of one 
of the Superintendents, '-the design of the law was not sustained by the 
measures necessary to give it the form and efi'ect of a system ; " that to 
remedy this evil, one academy was specially designated in each Senate dis- 
trict, with an endowment of $500 to provide the necessary means and facil- 
ities of instruction, and an annual appropriation of $400 for the mainten- 
ance of a department for the education of teachers, and soon afterwards the 
sum of $28,000 added to the literature fund from the avails of the U. S. 
Deposit fimd while eight additional academies were required to organize 
and maintain similai* departments : that finally the number of these depart- 



55 

ments was augmented to twenty-tlu-ee, and every exertion put forth to 
8eciu-e the gi-eat results originally contemplated in their establishment ; and 
that in the judgment of successive Superintendents of common schools, the 
Regents of the University, and the most eminent and practical fi-iends of 
education throughout the state, these institutions, whether considered in the 
aggregate or with reference to those specially designated from time to time, 
for the performance of this important duty of supplying the common schools 
with competent teachers, have not succeeded in the accomplishment of that 
object. Having, therefore, to r-evert again to the language of the Superin- 
tendent before refen-ed to, " proved inadequate to the ends proposed ; " 
may not now " a change o/joZaw be insisted on, without being open to the 
objection of abandoning a system which has not been fairly tested ?" And 
have the academies any just reason to complain if they are not longer per- 
mitted to enjoy undiminished the liberal appropriation conferred upon them 
by the state for a specific object — an object which they have not been able 
satisfactorily to accomplish ? " 

The committee then proceed minutely to trace the origin, progress and 
practical operation of Normal Schools in Europe and in this country, and 
after a general discussion of their applicability and expediency under the 
peculiar circumstances which exist in our own state, and the recommenda- 
tion of an appropriation for the organization and support of a Normal School 
at the seat of government, for the education and training of teachers, 
observe : 

" It will be noticed that the committee speak of the establishment of one 
Normal School : Did our present means seem to warrant it, the committee 
woidd, with confidence, recommend the immediate establishment of at least 
erne in each of the eight Senatorial districts. If one is now established, and 
that is properly endowed and organized, there cannot be a doubt that not 
only one will be called for m each of the eight Senatorial districts, but in a 
brief period very many of the large counties will insist upon having one 
established within their limits. The establishment of one is but an experi- 
ment — if that can be called an experiment, which for more than a century 
has been in operation, without a known failure — which, if successful, will 
lead the way for several others. It is believed that several of the Acade- 
mies now in operation can and will be converted into Normal Seminaries, 
when the period arrives for the rapid improvement of education ; in this 
way there will be no loss of academic investment, and the great interest of 
the public will be as well or better subserved than they are at present. 

" The committee believe the experiment should be tried at the Capi- 
tal ; if it cannot be tested in the presence of all the people, it should be 
before all the representatives of the people. As a government measure, 
it is untried in this state ; the result, therefore, will be of deep interest. 
Here at each annual session of the legislature, can be seen for what and 
how the public money is expended ; here can be seen the exhibition of the 
pupils of the Seminary and of the Model School ; here, if unsuccessful no 
report of interested officials can cover up its failure, or prevent the abandon- 
ment of the experiment ; here citizens from all parts of the state, who resort 
to the Capital during the session of the legislature, the terms of the courts, 
«fec., can have an opportunity of examining the workings of the Normal 
school systeta, of learning the best method of teaching, and all the improve- 
ments in the science and practice of the art ; those who in the spring and 
autumn, pass through the city, and to and from the Great Metropolis, and 
those who from all parts of the union make their annual pilgrimage to the 
Fountain of Health, will pause here to see what the Empire State is doing 
to promote the education of her people." 

On the seventh of May, succeeding, the bill reported by the Committee 
was passed into a law, by which the sum of $9,600 was appropriated for 
the first year, and |10,000 annually for five years thereafter and until other- 
wise directed by law, for the establishment and support of a Normal school 
to be located at Albany, and to be under the supervision, management and 



56 

direction of the Superintendent of common schools and the Regents of the 
Hoiversity, who were authorized and required, from time to time, to make 
all needful rules and regulations ; to fix the number and compensation of 
teachers and others to be employed therein ; to prescribe the preliminary 
examination and the terms and conditions on which the pupils should be 
receiyed and instructed ; to apportion such pupils among the respective 
counties, conforming as nearly as might be to the ratio of population ; and 
generally, to provide in all things for the good government and manage- 
ment of the school. They were also required to appoint an executive com- 
mittee, consisting of five persons, one of whom should in all cases be the State 
Superintendent of common schools, to whom the immediate government 
and direction of the institution should be committed, subject to such general 
rules as the Regents might prescribe, and whose duty it should be to make 
full and detailed reports from time to time to the Superintendent and 
Regents, and to recommend such rules and regulations as they might deem 
proper for the school. The Superintendent and Regents were likewise 
required annually to transmit to the legislature, an account of their pro- 
ceedings and expenditures. 

In pm-suance of this act, the Regents of the University, proceeded on the 
Ist of June thereafter, to the appointment of an Executive Committee, 
consisting of the Superintendent of common schools (Col. Young) Rev. 
Alonzo Potter, Rev. William H. Campbell, Hon. Gideon Hawlet and 
Francis Dwight, Esq., who held their fu-st meeting on the 20th of June. 
Having obtained from the corporation of the city of Albany, the lease for 
five years of a commodious building for the use of the school, they adopted 
the necessary measures for its organization and establishment, by requesting 
the Board of Supervisors of the several coimties, to appoint on the nomination 
of the county Superintendents, a nimiber of pupils, corresponding to their 
respective representation in the Assembly ; by the appointment of David 
P. Page, of Newburyport, Mass., as Principal, George R. Perkins, of Utica, 
as Professor of Mathematics, Frederick I. Ilslet, of Albany as teacher of 
Music, and J. B. Howard, of Rensselaer, as teacher of Drawing ; and by 
making such general niles and regulations as they deemed expedient and 
necessary, in reference to the eom'se of study, management and discipline of 
the school. On the 18th of December, the school was opened, by a public 
address from the Superintendent of common schools. Twenty-nine pupils 
only were in attendence ; this number, however, speedily increased to 
upwards of one hundred ; and an experimental or model school was at the 
commencement of the second term, attached to the institution, comprising 
upwards of a hundred children of both sexes. 

At the opening of the session of the legislature of 1845, Gov. Wright, in 
his annual message to both Houses, thus adverted to the subject of common 
school education : 

" Ko public fund of the state is so unpretending, yet so all pervading — so 
little seen, yet so universally felt — so mild it its exactions, yet so bountiful 
in its benefits — so little feared or courted, and yet so powerful, as this fund 
for the support of common schools. The other funds act upon the secular 
interests of society, its business, its pleasures, its pride, its passions, its vi- 
ces, its misfortunes. This acts upou its mind and its morals. Education is 
to free institutions what bread is to human life, the staff of their existence. 
The oiSce of this fiuid is to open and warm the soil, and sow the seed from 
which this element of freedom must grow aud ripen into maturity ; and the 
health or sickness of the growth will measure the extent and security of om* 
liberties. The thankfulness we owe to those who have gone before us, for 
the institution of this fund, for its constitutional protection, and for its safe 
and prudent administration hitherto, we can best repay by imitating their 
example and improving upou their work, as the increased means placed in 
our hands shall give us the ability. 

" Few, if any instances, are upon record in which a fund of this descrip- 
tion has been administered, and its bounties dispensed through a period of 



57 

fbrty jaatB, with eo few suspicions, accusations, or complaints of the inter- 
ference of either political or religious biases to disturb the equal balance by 
which its benefits should be extended to our whole population. This should 
continue as it has been. Our school fund is not instituted to make our 
•hildren and youth either partizans in politics, or sectarians in religion ; but 
to give them education, intelligence, sound principles, good moral habits, 
and a free and independent spirit ; in short, to make them American free- 
men and American citizens, and to qjualify them to judge and choose for 
themselves in matters of politics, religion and government. Such an ad- 
ministration of the fund as shall be calculated to render this qualification 
the most perfect for the mature minds, with the fewest iuflueuces tending 
to bias the judgment or incline the choice, will be the most consonant with 
our duties, and with the best interests of our constituents. Under such an 
administration, education will flourish most and the peace and harmony of 
•ociety be best preserved." 

From the annual report of the Superintendent, (Col. Young) it appeared 
that the whole number of school districts in the state, was 10,990 ; the whole 
number of children between the ages of five and sixteen, was 696,548 ; the 
number of cliildren of all ages, actually taught in the common schools during 
the year reported, 709,156, or more than 50,000 beyond the number taught 
during' the preceding year ; the amount paid for teachers' wages $992,222 ; 
of which $447,566 was raised on rate-bills ; the amount paid for library pur- 
poses $94,950.54 ; and the number of volumes ui the several district librar- 
ries 1,038,396. 

" A more just appreciation on the part of the public," observes the Su- 
perintendent, in concluding his report, " not only of the importance of ade- 
quate intellectual and moral culture in our common schools, but of the re- 
sponsibilities of teachers, is beginning to prevail. There is much in the 
prospect thus opened to us, cheering and encouraging to the friends of free 
institutions, to the friends of education, and of civil, social and moral pro- 
gress. The great idea of education, in its most comprehensive acceptation, 
consists in that development, culture and discipline of all the faculties of 
our nature, which shall fit us for the highest sphere of usefulness, and the 
highest degi-ee of enjoyment of wliich that nature, in the circumstances by 
which we are surrounded, is susceptible. 

" This conception of that preliminary training which is to give us the 
eomplete and efiicient control of the energies, physical and moral, of our 
common humanity; has at length, it is to be hoped, assumed its place as the 
foundation of the science of elementaiy instruction. Institutions for the 
preparation of teachers upon the most approved models, are already diffusing 
far and wide, a more enlightened and practical system of mental culture, 
by furnishing to the schools instructors of a high grade of qualifications, in- 
tellectual and moral ; and these instructors, in their turn, communicate ele- 
ments of knowledge and the means of self-improvement, to the pupils com- 
mitted to their charge. The general substitution of knowledge, for the par- 
rot-like rote, by which a vigorous and retentive memory was made the prin- 
cipal test of mental capacity, may be regarded as one of the strongest indi- 
cations of the prevalence of sounder principles, and of a progressive revolu- 
tion in the theory and practice of educatiim. 

" These are the principal agencies through whose united influence our 
common schools have imbibed that spirit of improvement which is percepti- 
ble in nearly every section of the state, and which must ultimately renovate 
our entire system 'of public education, and exert a beneficial influence upon 
all our institutions, civil, social and political. In the late strongly contested 
election for the chief magistrate of the United States, the result was deter- 
mined for good or for evil, by 237,600 votes cast in this state ; and the re- 
sult will, doubtless, eventuate in a course of measures which will affect, 
beneficially or otherwise, the interests of some twenty millious of human 
beings, for a series of years to come. The whole number of children now 
under the course of instruction in the common schools of this state, exceeds 



58 

700,000 ; estimating one-half of this number as females, and making a still 
farther deduction of 100,000, or one-seventh of the whole, for removal from 
the state, death, or inability from any other cause, to discharge the duties 
appertaining to the citizen — and we have remaining 250,000, who, upon a 
reasonable estimate will, within a less period than fifteen years, emerge from 
our common schools invested with all the functions of populai- sovereignty ; 
a number exceeding by upwai-ds of 12,000 that which has recently given to 
the Union a Chief Magistrate. 

" On the flourishing condition of our schools repose the hopes of the 
present and the destinies of the future. Without a sound, moral and intel- 
lectual education, the functions of self government can neither be duly 
appreciated nor successfully maintained. The constitution of several of 
the South American Republics appeared theoretically to secm-e human 
liberty. But paper provisions are powerless unless they are also impressed 
on the hearts, and combined with the intelligence of the people. Without 
an aecm-ate knowlede of their rights and duties, and a determination to 
maintain them, no community can long be free ; and the melancholy truth 
that the South American Republics have fallen into revolutionary decrep- 
itude, and degenerated into military despotisms, affords to us an impressive 
admonition. Indeed without going beyond om- own borders, premonitions 
of an anti-social spirit — of insubordination to the law — of combining to 
perpetrate violence, riot, incendiarism and murder — aj-e sufiBciently alarm- 
ing in their rapid increase during the last few years. If the same spirit 
pervaded the majority of the community, the existing government would 
be at an end ; and as human society cannot exist without a superintending 
power of protection, the aid of some more energetic and despotic form of 
government would necessarily be invoked to administer justice, to maintain 
order, and to shield the poor from the exactions of the rich, — the weak from 
the aggressions of the strong. 

" The gi-eat extent of the American Republic — its rapidly increasing 
population — ^the dis-ersity of habits, pursuits, productions, and interests, 
some of which are regarded as hostile to others — render necessary at^all 
times, the cultivation of a liberal spii-it of forbearance and conciliation. 
Without the diffusion of education, such a spirit, in sufficient strength to 
maintain harmony, cannot exist. It may be safely afBi-med, that there is 
now no people of equal numbers on the face of the earth, who, if placed 
under such institutions as ours, would maintain the government for a single 
year. And unless moral and intellectual culture, shall at least keep pace 
with the increase of numbers, this republic will assuredly fall. On the 
cai-eful cultivation in our schools, of the minds of the young, the entire 
success or the absolute failm-e of the great experiment of self government 
is wholly dependent ; and unless that cultivation is increased, and made 
more effective than it has yet been, the conviction is solemnly impressed by 
the signs of the times, that the American Union, now the asylum of the 
oppressed and " the home of the free," will ere long share the melancholy 
fate of every former attempt of self government. That Union is and must 
be sustained by the moral and intellectual powers of the community, and 
every other power is wholly ineffectual. Physical^ force may generate 
hatred, fear and repulsion ; but can never produce Union. The only salva- 
tion for the republic is to be sought for in our schools. It is here that the 
seeds of liberty are sown, and made to germinate and grow, and produce 
rich fruit in abundance. Every improvement that can be given to these 
primary institutions, affords an additional guaranty for the permanent main- 
tenance of rational freedom. 

" The duration of the life of man should be estimated, not by the years 
of his physical existence, which would degrade him to the level of the 
brute — but by the period of the expansion and enjoyment of his moral and 
intellectual faculties. Thence it has been aftu-med Avith philosophic truth, 
that " he who shortens the road to human knowledge lengthens life." The 
cradle and the gi-ave are in such close proximity, even when the interval is 



59 

most extended, that hiunan existence may be regai-ded as nearly a blank, 
unless the early portion of the brief space by which they are sepai-ated is 
seduously devoted to the developement of the mind. The undying part of 
our nature has been impressed by its creator with an unconquerable desire 
for knowledge, not that limited acquaintance with the external forms of 
things which is bestowed upon the animals by instinct — but a knowledge 
vastly more minute and exclusive, which embraces within its scope, all the 
properties and laws, both of mind and matter. The earth itself with all 
its appendages, is much too small a theatre, to sftiate the inquisitiveness, 
even of children ; and if human power were commensurate with human 
aspirations, the daring ken of man would be thrown thi-ough the abyss of 
Heaven, to the idtima thiile of the works of God — to the farthest verge in 
fathomless space, in which the energies of creative power have yet been 
consummated — to regions where the embryon nebulae of unformed worlds 
are in the transition or the quiescent state, obedient to the primeval fiat of 
the Almighty." 

The introduction of Teachers^ Institutes as an elementary portion of 
the system of Public Instruction, which was effected at about this period, 
constitutes an important feature in the progress of improvement, with refer- 
ence to the practical qualification of teachers of common schools. The sub- 
ject was fu-st brought to the attention of the friends of education, by a series 
of resolutions submitted to the Tompkins County Teachers' Association, in 
October 1842, by J. S. Denman, the County Superintendent of Tompkins, 
setting forth the necessity of united and efficient action on the pai-t of teach- 
ers to elevate their profession and the standard of common school education 
generally, and recommending the establishment, in that County _ of a 
Teachers' Institute, where all the teachers might meet semi-annually in the 
spring and fall, preparatory to the commencement of the respective summer 
and winter terms : and spend from two to four weeks, in receiving instruction 
from efficient instructors, in listening to lectiu-es from scientific men, and in 
the discussion of plans for the improvement of schools. The first Teachers' 
Institute was opened at Ithaca, on the 4th day of April 1843, under the 
management and direction of Mi-. Denman, who had engaged the services of 
Salem Town Esq., the Rev. David Powell and Prof James Thompson, of 
Auburn, as instructors and lecturers. Twenty eight teachers were in 
attendance, and instruction was given daily for a term of two weeks in the 
best mode of Governing and teaching common schools, including a critical 
analysis and review of the various elementai-y branches ; and sundry 
advanced branches not heretofore in use in the Schools generally. During 
the Autumn of the same year, several similar- institutions were opened in 
different sections of the State -, and in the succeeding year their operations 
were greatly enlarged and extended. In his annual report for 1845 the 
State Superintendent thus alludes to them : 

" In no less than seventeen of the lai-gest counties. Teachers' Institutes have 
been established during the past two yeai's, in which upwards of one 
thousand teachers have been instructed during periods varying from two to 
six or eight weeks, immediately preceding the commencement of their re- 
spective terms of instruction, by the most competent and experienced educa- 
tors whose services could be procured, in conjimction with the county 
Superintendent. These associations are wholly voluntary, and the expenses, 
including board, tuition, and the use of convenient rooms, apparatus, <fcc., 
have hitherto been defrayed exclusively by the teachers. ITie course of 
instruction consists generally of a critical and thorough review of all the 
elementary branches required to be taught in the common schools, full 
expositions and illustrations of the most approved methods of communicating 
knowledge to the young, and of the proper government and discipline of 
schools, and a mutual interchange of views and opinions among the teachers, 
instructors and Superintendent. Among the numerous improvements which 
the experience of past imperfections has introduced into the practical opera- 
tion of our common schools, there is none which combines so much utility 



60 

and value as these local and temporary institutions ; and in the judgmeat 
of the Superintendent they are highly deserving of legislative aid. A 
concise exposition of their general featm-es, the mode of instruction adopted, 
and its effects not only upon the teachers, but upon the whole character of 
the schools under their charge, and upon the public sentiment generally, 
has, it is understood, been prepared by Mr. Salem Town, of Cayuga, a 
vetei'an teacher, who has himself most ably and efficiently contributed to 
the establishment and success of this species of instruction." 

In reviewing the adi^inistration of the common school system, by Ool. 
Young, it is impossible not to perceive the vast impulse which was given 
to all its varied operations by the efficiency, energy and public spirit of that 
distinguished statesman. Bringing to the discharge of the peculiar duties 
of the office of Superintendent no previous experience, and strong prejudices 
against some of the most cherished featm-es of the system of public instruc- 
tion, he not only speedily rendered himself familiar with all its details, but 
divesting himself of all these unfavorable pre-conceptions which had ob- 
tained possession of his mind, dispassionately sm^veyed the entire bearings 
of the Avhole system, and having convinced himself of its value and utility, 
devoted his best energies and all his powerful influence to its advancement 
and improvement. The plan of county and town supervision, the Normal 
school and Teachers' Institutes, and District Libraiies, were cherished and 
strengthened by his exertions ; and the impress of his vigorous mind and 
strong understanding will long remain upon the common school system of 
our Slate. 

Upon his retirement from the office of Secretary of state. Col. Young 
received from the Regents of the University, the appointment of member 
of the Executive Committee of the Normal School, in the place of Dr. 
Potter, who had been elected Bishop of the diocese of Pennsylvania and 
had removed to that State. Harmanus Bleeker, Esq., of the city of Albany 
was also appointed a member of the Executive Committee to fill the vacancy 
occasioned by the death of Francis Dwight, Esq., which took place on the 
18th of December, 1845. 

The removal from the State of Dr. Potter, and the death of Mr. Dwight 
in the fulness of his faculties and the apparent meridian of his usefulness, 
were deeply and extensively felt by the friends of common school educa- 
tion. In all the measures which had been canvassed and adopted for the 
improvement and elevation of our systems of public instruction, both these 
gentlemen had borne a eonspicious and an efficient part ; and to their con- 
stant and uniform co-operation with the legislature and the executive 
authorities of the state charged with the general supervision of these great 
interests, the success of those measm-es is to a very considerable extent due. 
As the conductor of the District School Journal, as County Superintendent 
and member of the Board of Education of the city of Albany, and as a 
member of the Executive Committee of the State Normal School, Mr. Dwight 
essentially contributed to the advancement of popular education, and to the 
general diffusion of sound principles of elementaiy instruction thi-oughout 
the state. 

Administration of Nathaniel S. Benton — Failure of the effort to ingraft the 
Free School System on the Constitictioii — Abolition of the office of County 
Superintendent. 

On the 3d day of February, 1845, the Hon. Nathaniel S. Benton, of Her' 
kimer, was appointed by joint ballot of both Houses of the Legislatm-e, Sec" 
retary of State and Superintendent of Common Schools : and entered upoa 
the discharge of his duties on the 6th of the same month. 

From his first annual report, bearing date on the 15th of January, 1846, 
it appeared that the whole number of school districts in the state, on the 
first day of July preceding, was 11,018 ; the number of children betweea 
the ages of five and sixteen, residing in the state, on the first day of Janu- 
ary, 1845, 690,914 ; the whole number of children of all ages, taught ia the 



61 

common schools during the year 1844, '?36,045 ; the amount of public money 
applied to the payment of teachers' wages, $629,856.94 ; the amount raised 
on rate-bills, $458,127.78, making aii aggregate of $1,088,084.72, and the 
amoimt of public money applied to library purposes and school apparatus, 
$96,159.25. The number of volumes in the several district libraries was 
1,146,250, being an increase, during the year reported, of 106,854 volumes. 

In reference to the fund applicable to the support of district libraries, the 
Superintendent observes : 

" It is not proposed to take from the inhabitants of the school districts 
the power of controlling the direction that shall be given to that part of the 
fund denominated library money ; but leave them to make such application 
thereof, either to the pm-chase of books, or the apparatus before named, or 
apply the whole or a part of it to the payment of teachers ; subject, 
however, to the approval of the department. After the districts have been 
supplied with a given nmnber of books, in proportion to the children in them, 
and after the appropriate school appai'atus and maps shall have been ob- 
tained, it is believed that in many instances, it would prove highly salutary, 
to authorize the inhabitants of such districts to apply this money to the 
payment of teachers' wages generally, or of the rate-bills of exempted schol- 
ars. To ensure ^ faithful compliance with the conditions required, it may 
be necessary in all cases, to vest in the depai-tment a supervision over this 
expenditure. ITiis will incite an interest in the district and its officers 
where it is desired to make this application to preserve their libraries, map6, 
globes, black-boiu-ds and other apparatus, with the best possible cai-e." 

On the subject of teachers' institutes, the Superintendent says : 

" Teachers' Institutes " and " teachers' drills," have been held during the 
the last year, in nearly thirty counties in the state, and were attended by 
more than three thousand school teachers, for periods varying from two to 
to four and eight weeks of continued session. These voluntary associations 
are rapidly spreading over our entire state, and ai'e destined soon, to occu- 
py much of the public attention. An ardent desire for improvement is 
seated in the minds of professional teachers ; " the school-master is abroad," 
in search of that educational knowledge which will qualify him to discharge 
the important duties of his profession, and elevate him and his vocation in 
public esteem. The Principal of the State Normal School, and the Profes- 
sor of Mathematics, attended a number of these county " Institutes " during 
the last autumu, and several of its graduates were called upon to preside 
over their proceedings and conduct the courses of instruction pursued in 
ihem. The pertinent and instructive lectures of the former, and the emi- 
nently successful efforts of the latt«r, have been duly appreciated by the 
members of the institutes where these services were performed, and that 

appreciation has been manifested in the most decided terms of approval. 

It may not be out of place to remark here, that the expense of the " asso- 
ciations " are paid by the teachers themselves, which is somewhat burthen- 
some to those who arc fcniales, and to others possessing hmited means of 
support. In answer to a suggestion that some pecuniary aid .and ei;c •ur- 
agement should be granted to' the members attending these " institutes " by 
the legislature, it has been remarked that these teachers are oulv fittin» 
them^:elves to pursue a profession for mere private gain or personal advan- 
tage, aii;l why should this particular cla'53 more than aaj other, be selected 
as tlio re:;ipieats of legislative bjunty and favor? Bat dues this objection 
present a fall an J f.iir statement of all the facts bearing upon this Siibjoct} 
Our laws require that a school shall be taught in a district, at least f»ur 
months in the year by a licensed teacher, to enlitlc such distiicfc to a partiei- 
patiiu in the public moneys devoted to the maintenance of the schools ; rc- 
oogaiziiig no act of this kind as legal, where the instructor dues nut pi)6t-e.s3 
in for. n, the eviJenec of fill qiialificatioa ; and hence it becomes a matter 
of the highest import to the state, and every member of the community, 
that thcie qualifications should, "in respect to moral character, leai"n;ngaud 
ability " and aptness to teach, be possessed by every instructor of youfch. — 



62 

The general enquiry is more as to the amount of the teacher's wages than in 
regard to fitness ; and competition serves rather to cheapen the rewards of 
this employment, than to encourage an emulation to excel among the teach- 
ers. Whether these considerations should justify any pecuniary relief, and 
to what extent, must depend upon the view taken of the magnitude of the 
inconveniences to be overcome or removed, and the extent to which the wel- 
fare of the state may be involved by permitting their continuance." 

The progress of the Normal School, during the preceding year was emin- 
ently gratifying and satisfactory. At the close of the second term thirty four 
of the pupils receiyed their diplomas as teachers. During its third term, 
commencing on the 15th of October 1845, the number of its pupils had 
increased to nearly two hundred, embracing a representation from fifty eight 
of the fifty-nine Counties The board of instruction was increas ed and 
strengthened by the appointment of Darwin G. Eaton, as teacher of Mathe- 
matics, in conjunction with Prof. Perkins, Sumnee C. Webb, as Teacher of 
Arithmetic and Geography, Silas T. Bowen, of Grammar, William W. 
Clark, of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry, William F. Phelps, as Perma- 
nent Teacher of the Model or Experimental School, and Miss Elizabeth C. 
Hance, as Teacher of Reading and History. 

" The end proposed in the establishment of the Normal Schoo] " observe 
the Executive Committee in the Annual report for the prefeent year " was 
to educate teachers for our common schools ; to send forth those to take 
charge of the susceptible minds of the children of this commonwealth, who, 
together with high moral principles, should possess the requisite knowledge 
of the branches to be taught, and withal be " apt to teach.'' The school 
was designed to educate the moral qualities of the instructed- — to impress him 
with the solenm responsibihties of his work — so that he might feel the bless- 
edness of being patient, longsuffering and miwearied in his efforts for the 
good of his pupils. It was intended to teach its students, and by their pre- 
cept and example to impress all who aspired to the honor of instructing, that 
the work of teaching was so important that no labor of preparation could be 
too great, since the good that could be accomphshed was vast, beyond the 
powers of human conception. Hence a stimulus was to be imparted to the 
teacher, which should never be spent, but be continually operative, urging hun 
to the acquisition of higher attainments in virtue, knowledge and aptness to 
teach. This, it is conceived, was the philanthropic end which the legislature 
of 1844 had in view, when they established the Normal School." 

On the first day of June of this year, a Convention of Delegates from the 
several Counties of the State met at Albany for the revision of the Constitu- 
tion. On the 5th Mr. Bowdish, of Montgomeiy, moved for the appointment 
of a committee to inquu-e into the expediency of the estabhshment of a sys- 
tem of Free Schools for the State. On the 12th, a standing committee, 
consisting of Ma. Nicoll of New- York, as chairman, Messrs. Munro, of 
Onondaga ; Bowdish, of Montgomery; A. W. Young, of Wyoming ; Tuthill, 
of Orange ; Willard, of Albany ; and Hunt of New- York, was appointed by 
the President, (the Hon John Tract, of Chenango,) on the subject of educa- 
tion, common schools and then appropriate funds. On the 15th Mr. R. Camp- 
bell, of Otsego offered a resolution of inquiry as to the propriety of a " con- 
stitutional provision for the security of the common school, literature deposit 
and other trust funds, from conversion or destruction by the legislature, and 
the estabhshment of such a system of common schools as will,_by taxation, 
bestow the facihty of acquiring a good education on every child in the State," 
which was adopted by the Convention, and referred to the Committee. On 
the 18th, the President presented to the Convention a communication from S. 
S. Randall, President of the State Convention of County Superintendents of 
common schools, held at Albany, m April preceding, transmitting a preamble 
and resolutions in favor of the Free School System. 

On the 22d of July, Mr. Nicoll, from the committee, reported for the con- 
sideration of the Convention, a series of propositions designed to be incor- 
porated as a part of the new constitution, declaring the proceeds of all lands 



63 

belonging to the state, except such parts thereof as might be reserved, or ap- 
propriated to public use, or ceded to the United States, which shall hereafter 
be sold or disposed of, together with the fund denominated the Common 
School fund, and all moneys heretofore appropriated by law for the use and 
benefit of said fund, should be and remain a perpetual fund, the interest to 
be inviolably appropriated and applied to the support of common schools 
thi-oughout the state ; that the net revenues of the U. S. Deposit Fimd, 
should likewise be inviolably applied to the same pm-pose, after meeting all ex- 
isting appropriation ; and that the legislature should, at its fu-st session after 
the adoption of the proposed constitution, and from time to time thereafter as 
should be necessary, provide by law /or the free education and instruction of 
every child between the ages of four and sixteen years, whose parents, guardians 
or employers, shall be resident in the state, in the Common Schools now establish- 
ed, or which should thereafter be established therein — the expense of such edu- 
cation and instruction after applying the public funds as above provided.to be 
defrayed by taxation, at the same time and in the same manner as provided 
by law for the liquidation of town and county charges. This latter provis- 
ion, relating to the establishment of free schools, the committee proposed to 
submit separately to the people of the state, for their sanction. 

On the 1st day of October, Mr. Bowdish, of Montgomery, made a power- 
ful and eloquent appeal to the Convention in behalf of this great measm-e 
of Free Schools, in which he was sustained by Mr. Nicoll, of New York, 
Ml'. WoRDEN, of Ontario, Mr. Patterson, of Chautauque, Mr. Rcssell, of St. 
Lawrence, and others ; and on the 8th of October, the day preceding the 
adjournment of the Convention, the first section reported by the committee 
permanently appropriating the proceeds of State lands and the Common 
School fund, to the support of common schools, was after some discussion 
adopted by a vote of 104 to 3. Mr. Nicoll then moved the adoption of the 
following section, to be separately submitted to the people, viz ; 

" § 6. The Legislature shall provide for the free education and instruc- 
tion of every child of the State in the common schools, now established, or 
which shall hereafter be established therein." 

This section was adopted by a vote of 57 to 53, on a call for the ayes and 
noes : and a provision added on motion of Mr. Ruggles, of Dutchess, by a 
vote of 82 to 26, directing the legislature to provide for raising the neces- 
sary taxes in the several school districts, to carry out the intention of the 
section. As thus modified, the entire ninth article of the proposed con- 
stitution, as reported by the committee, was agreed to by the convention 
and ordered to be engrossed. The convention then took a recess for dinner. 

On the assembling of the Convention in the afternoon, Mr. Arphaxed 
LooMis, of Herkimer, offered a resolution to refer the article to a committe of 
oxE with instructions to strike out the two last sections, relating to the establish- 
ment of Free Schools, and report the same as amended to the Convention 
INSTANTER. Mr. Taggart; of Genesee, sustained, and Mr. Townsend, of 
New York, opposed this motion ; but under the operation of the previous 
question, it prevailed by a vote of 61 to 27 ; and Mr. Loomis being appoint- 
ed the committee, immediately reported as instructed, and his report being 
agreed to by the Convention, the provision for the establishment of Free 
Schools, as a portion of the Constitution was finally defeated. 

The ninth article as adopted is as follows : 

" The Capital of the Common School Fund ; the capital of the Literature 
Fund, and the capital of the United States Deposit Fund, shall be respec- 
tively preserved inviolate. The revenue of the said common school fund 
shall be applied to the support of common schools ; the revenue of the said 
literature fund shall be applied to the support of academies ; and the sum 
of .$25,000 of the revenues of the United States Deposit fund shall each 
year be appropriated to and made a part of the capital of the said common 
school fund " 

On the 1st of October, of this year, Samuel L. Holmes, Esq., of the 
County of Westchester, received the appointment of State Deputy Superin- 



64 

tendent of common schools, to supply the vacancy occasioned by the resig- 
nation and retirement on account of ill health of the then incumbent S. S. 
Eandall, who had held the office during the two preceding administrations, 
and up to the present period. 

From the annual report of the Superintendent for 1847, it appeared that 
the number of organized school districts in the state, on the first of July 
precedmg, was 11,008 ; the number of children between the. ages of 5 and 
16, 704,000; the nimiber of children of all ages vinder instruction in the 
common school duidng the ycai- 1846, 742,433 ; the amount of public money 
applied during the same yeai- to the payment of teachers wages, $635,051.16; 
the amount contributed on rate bills for the same purpose |460,764.78 
making an aggi-egate of $1,095,815.93 ; the amount of public money expend- 
ed in the pm-chase of libraries and school apparatus in the several distrieta, 
$95,881.86, and the number of volumes in the several District Libraries., 
1,203,139, being an increase during the year reported of 57,889 volumes. 

" A successful administration of the school laws of the State," observe* 
the superintendent "requires an intelligent and active local, as well aa 
general supervision ; and without the former it is believed the present or- 
ganization must eventually be abandoned, and one less complex in its detail* 
and arrangements and less stringent in its requirements, adopted in the 
place of it. Numerous plans, no doubt, might be suggested on paper, giving 
promise of gi-eat excellence if adopted ; but when brought to the test of 
actual experiment they will entirely fail to accomplish the object designed. 
Radical changes in any system of public instruction, perfected by years of 
trial, and accommodated to the habit* and inclination of the community, 
will be found a hazardous expedient. After struggling thj-ough a long 
series of years to elevate our schools, to infuse a greater zeal and excite a 
higher interest in regai'd to them, without advancing one step in attaining 
these objects, actual visitation and inspection Avere provided as a substitut* 
for an inefficient local supervision ; and this duty was enjoined upon 
officers designated by law. The results of this change have been and now 
are seen and deeply felt in our own state and by our people, and have 
justly excited commendation and approval wherever they are known in 
other states of the Union. 

" The actual external and internal condition of om- common schools, 
always a subject intensely iuteresting'to the philanthropist, and the patri- 
otic statesman, is such in the judgment of the Superintendent as will afford 
much satisfaction in regard to the present, and allow high hopes for the 
future. That more might have been aeeomplished since the establishment 
of our system, and under other and more favorable circumstances, is quite 
probable ; but that we now see upwards of seven hundred and forty thousand 
of the youth of our state resorting to the eomnjon schools in pursuit of 
knowledge, should excite in us profound gratitude t*) the AU-wi.^e disposer 
of national events, and the highest respect lor the founders of the system." 
The Superintendent also renewed his reoommendation of the preceding 
year in relation to the appropriation of the whole or a portion of the 
Library money of the several districts, to the payment of teachers' wages, 
imder a vote of the district subject to the appr(;bation «;f the department. 

Under the provisions of an act passed in 1846, schjols fi)r the instruction 
of Indian children were organized en the Oiiondagji, Cattaraugus, Allegany 
and St. Regis reservations, under circumstance.-; eminently favorable to the 
intellectual and mor.T.1 imprnvement of this class of the pupulatiiin. 

Gov. Young, in his annual message to the legislature, for the present year, 
thus alluded to the N<;rmal School : 

"The State Normal Sch.iol cnntinuea to advance in public e.^timatirn and 
public usefulness. Its only objcob i-^ to improve the teachers of cummon 
schools, and any progre.-s in the advancement of that object, it quite appa- 
rent, must exert a salutary infliieuce on the cause of educatiuu throughout 
the state." 



65 

Tbe Executive Committee, in tlieir annual report, stated that the number of 
pupils in attendance during the foiu'th term of the school, commencing in 
Mav, and closing in September, 1846, was 205, and that every county, with 
a smgle exception, was represented. The number of gi-aduates, at the close 
of the third term, was 47, and of the fom-th, 63. " It is found," observe the 
committee, " upon examination of the school register, that since Dee. 18, 
1844, 508 students have attended the school for a longer or a shorter period. 
Of this number 178 are now in the school ; 6 have died ; 14 were found to 
be incompetent for teaching, and wei-e at an early day advised to engage in 
other pm-suits ; 1 1 left on account of ill health, unfitting them alike for study 
or teaching ; and 29 left at an early period of their connection with the 
school, relinquishing for various reasons the purpose of teaching. If these 
nimabers be added, their sum will be found to be 238 ; and if this last num- 
ber be subtracted from the whole number on the register, the remainder to 
be accounted for is 270. Of these 270, 144 are gi-aduates of the school, and 
the committee k7iow tha.t 129 of them have been engaged in teaching since 
their graduation ; and of the remaining 15 gi-aduates one has died; and the 
rest, with the exception of four, are believed to be teaching, though no defin- 
ate knowledge of their' pm'suitshas been obtained. It may also be proper 
to state, that those persons who have not been heard from, were graduates of 
last term, and sufficient time has hardly elapsed to afford an opportunity of 
learning their pursuits. Of the remainder of the 270, numbering 126, who 
left the school prior to graduation, nearly all, on leaving, declared that it 
was their intention to teach. 84 are known to have taught since they left, 
and but few of the others have been heard from. Thus, it appears that the 
school has sent out 213 persons, who, when heard from, were actually engag- 
ed in teaching. In many instances, also, accounts have been received of the 
manner in which these students were acquitting themselves as teachers, and 
the committee are happy to say, that as far as heard from, they ai-e giving 
great satisfaction." 

On the 13th of November, 1847, the legislature passed an act abolishing 
the office of County Superintendent of Common Schools, and directing that 
all appeals authorized by law, to be brought to them, should be made direct- 
ly to the State Superintendent, and that the annual repoi-ts heretofore made 
to them by the Town Superintendents, should be made to the County Clerks , 
respectively, and condensed statements thereof by them, be transmitted to 
the department. 

For this measuse the friends of the system, although they had, with great 
imanimity, resisted it for a series of years, were prepared, from the gi'cat un- 
popularity of the office, growing out of the mode of appointment and of the 
compensation of this class of officers. Their selection had been, very inju- 
diciously, confided to the Boards of Supervisors of the respective counties, 
whose functions, however useful and important in other respects, had no 
pai'ticular reference to the educational wants and interests of the community ; 
and who wore, besides, to a great extent, divided into political parties, upon 
the varymg supremacy of which, the choice of County Superintendents was, 
too generally made to depend, without especial regard to the intellectual and 
moral qualifications of the candidate for the important and responsible sta- 
tion he was destined to fill. "V\Tiile, therefore, far the greater number of of- 
ficers appointed by them, were men eminently qualified for the discharge of 
their duties, there were some who were justly obnoxious to the charge, 
not only of incapacity, but of a perversion of the high functions devolved 
upon them to sinister personal and political ends ; and the indignation excited 
by these instances of disregard of duty and moral obliquity, gi-adually ex- 
tended itself to other localities where no reasonable grounds for suspicion ex- 
isted. The pecuniary burden likewise, of defraying one-half the salary of 
these officers from the county treasuries, was magnified and dwelt ujjou by 
the interested and designing ; and the legislature was annually flooded with 
petitions for the abolition of the office, as unnecessary, oppressive and im- 
properly administered. Committee after committee, to whom these peti- 
5 



6io; 

tions ifrere referred, reported against the adoption of tie measure desired j 
and the ablest and soundest arguments were brought to bear upon the great 
and manifest utility of the office. It was clearly and repeatedly shown that 
the abuses complained of were such as admitted of an easy aiad practical 
remedy, while the advantage secured by the retention of this class of offi-' 
cers could be obtained through no otlier agency. Pubhc clamor, however, per- 
sisted in demanding the repeal of the obnoxious act ; and notwithstanding the 
avowed and strong opposition of the successive heads of the department, of the 
several committees of both houses of the legislature, charged with the super- 
vision of the interests of public instruction, and of the great body of the most 
enhghtened friends of education throughout the state, the measure was finally 
carried through at the extra session, convoked for the purpose of enacting the- 
several new laws rendered necessary by the adoption of the amended constitu- 
tion. 

The effect of this measure upon the prosperity of the common school system 
tvas, in many essential respects, most disastrous. During a period of nearly 
forty years its progress had been uninterruptedly onward ; and a succession of 
wise enactments had strengthened and maturecf its foundations and expanded 
its usefulness in every direction. The abolition of that feature, which, more, 
perhaps, than any other, constituted its distinguishing characteristic, and gave 
to it its peculiar symmetry and power, was the first retrograde step in its his- 
tory. Its immediate consequences were felt in the comparative inefficiency 
and inutility of the local and general supervision of the schools— in the absence 
of any connecting link between the department and the several town and dis- 
trict officers, and the inhabitants of the districts — in the discontinuance of a local 
appellate tribunal, where the numerous controversies constantly springing up, 
relative to the external arragements of the various districts, might be equitably 
adjusted by an officer on the spot — and in the utter impossibility of obtainmg 
with any accuracy, those statistical details in reference to the practical opera- 
tion of the system, of so great value to the department, the legislature, and 
the public. Town Superintendents, however well qualified for the specific dis- 
charge of the duties devolved upon them, were, for obvious reasons, wholly 
incapable of supplying the place in the system, which had been assigned to this 
higher class of officers. Their jurisdiction was strictly local — their peculiar du- 
ties circumscribed — their iufluence necessarily confined to their respective 
towns-=--and their powers limited ; while the county Superintendents were in 
constant and regular communication, not only with the head of the department, 
but with their colleagues throughout the state — 'their influence extensive — and 
their means of usefulness unrestricted. 

At the same time, the legislature passed the " Act for the establishment of 
Teachers' Institutes," by wliich the sum of sixty dollars was appropriated an- 
nually from the income of the United States Deposit Fund, payable on the 
order of the several county treasurers, to be expended for the use and benefit of 
teachers' institutes, in each of the counties of the state where a majority of the 
town superintendents shall unite in desiring its expenditure for this purpose, 
and file a certificate thereof with the county clerk. An advisory committee, 
consisting of three of such town Superintendents, is required to be appointed 
by the counly clerk, to make the necessary arrangements for organizing and 
managing such institutes and pubhc notice is to be given by him to teachers and 
others who may desire to become such, specifying the time and place of meet- 
ing of such institute. The advisory committee are also authorized to procure 
the services of suitable lecturers and teachers for such institute. Whenever 
the county treasurer shall receive satisfactory evidence, that not less than fifty, 
or in counties whose population is under thirty thousand, not less than thirty 
teachers, or individuals intending to become such within one year shall have 
been in regular attendance on .^uch institute for ten days, he is authorized 
and required to audit and allow the accounts of such aavisory committee, not 
exeeeding the sum of sixty dollars, for the expenses of such institute. 

On the 15th of December, the various statutes relating to common schools 
were combined and consolidated into one act, with such alterations and 



67 

amendments as were deemed expedient. Town Superintendents were 
authorized to bold their offices for two years ; and to enter upon the discharge 
of their duties respectively on the first Monday of November, subsequent to 
their election or appointment ; and the library law was so modified as to 
authorize the expenditure of the whole or any portion of the public money 
received by the respective districts for that purpose, with the approbation 
of the state Superintendent, in the payment of teachers wages wherever 
the number of volumes in districts numbering over fifty children between 
the age of 5 and 16 exceeded one hundred and twenty -five, or one hundred 
in districts with a less number of children than fifty and where the district 
was supplied with maps, globes, black boards and the requisite scientific 
apparatus for the use of the school. Several other alterations of minor 
importance were made in the details of the system ; and the Superinten- 
dent of common schools was authorized to cause the amended act to be 
published and generally distributed throughout the state. 

In his annual Message to the Legislature at the opening of the Session of 
1848, Gov. Young, thus adverted to th6 subject of education : 

" In our coimtry, for reasons that have been so often and so well stated, that 
I need not repeat them, the education of its children has been, and I trust 
will continue to be, matter of the deepest solicitude. Common schools, from 
their universality, reaching every neighborhood, and shedding their influ- 
ence upon every family and into every mind, expelling the primary causes 
of vice and crime, and erecting altars to patriotism and virtue, have justly 
been considered the peculiar objects of legislative care. 

" The practical importance of the State Normal School for the education 
of teachers is beginiug to be felt ; and in the tone, strength and vigor given 
to common schools by distributing through the State, teachers who shall 
have been thoroughly instructed, it is believed will be found most convin- 
cing arguments in defence of reasonable, but liberal appropriations by the 
State to this object." 

From the annual report of the Superintendent, it appeared that the num- 
ber of school districts in the state, on the first of July 1847, was 11,052 ; 
number of children between the ages of five and sixteen, 700,443 ; whole 
number, of all ages instructed in tlie common schools of the state during the 
year 1846, 748,387 ; amount of public money expended in the payment of 
teachers wages, .$595,974,20 ; amount raised on rate bill for the same 
purpose $462,840,44 making an aggi-egate of $1,058,814,64 ; amount of public 
money expended in the purchase of libraries and school aparatus $93,791,- 
29 ; and the number of volumes in the several district libraries 1,310,986, 
being an increase of 107,847, during the year reported. 

In reference to the establishment of free schools, the Superintendent 
holds the following language : 

" The extension of free schools in the state is progi-essing moderately ; 
and laws are passed nearly every session of the Legislature, providing for 
their establishment in populous and wealthy villages ; while the poorer and 
less populous districts, in the same towns, are left to struggle on, from year to 
year, in the best way they can — sustaining a school perhaps only four months in 
the year, to secure the next apportionment of the public moneys. Is this policy 
just? — is it rii^ht to discriminate in this manner, between the school children of 
the state ? Why should ample provision be made for the children residing in 
particular localities, and others turned over to the naked bounties of the 
state ; which, although munificent in the aggregate, are only sufficient t« pay 
a few weeks tuition for each child ? This great and essential question turns 
simply on the mode of taxation ; by changing this and requiring the boards 
of supervisors, to raise upon the counties respectively, a sum equal to the 
amount apportioned from the treasury to each county for the support of 
schools, and upon the towns another sum equal to the apportionment of such 
town from the school fund, which would increase the local taxation upon 
the counties, not to exceed five-tenths of a mill on the valuation in any 
county, and our schools might be rendered nearly free to every child in the state. 



68 

" Our fellow citizens have heretofore cheerfully acquiesced in the imposition 
of a tax to support the government and sustain the credit of the state, of 
more than twice the amount proposed to be raised in the plan suggested. 
What improvement, internal or external, is more worthy of the fostering care 
of the legislature or of greater importance to the community, than the mental 
improvement of those who are soon to exercise all the privileges of citizens, 
and wield the destinies of the state. It would be an unjust impeaclunent of 
the patriotism and good sense of the people, to suppose they would not 
cheerfully embrace and cordially approve any reasonable measures which 
will reflect so much honor on the present, and confer such endm-ing benefits 
on the future." 

In reference to the abolition of the office of county Superintendent, he 
obseiwes : 

" The act abolishing the office seemed to be in accordance with the public 
will, and should be cheerfully obeyed ; but the Avisdom and expediency of 
the measm-e must be tested by the experience of the future. The labor and 
expense thrown upon this office, in consequence of this legislative act, cannot 
justly and therefore does not form any ground of complaint with the 
undersigned. "With the other official duties devolved upon the incumbent of 
this office, a personal supervision and inspection of the schools, if in any way 
desirable, is wholly impracticable. This question is then presented to the 
grave consideration of the legislature and the people of the state — are we to 
dispense entirely with all personal visitation, inspection and supervision, 
except what may be performed by the local town officers ? and are we not 
hereafter to have any statistical information of the relative condition of our 
school houses ? and of the condition of the winter and summer schools from 
year to year, showing the mmaber of schools visited and pupils in attendance 
at the time ? the course and extent of the studies pursued, with the ages, 
sex and time of the employment of the teachers, and the compensation 
paid ? To repeat the just encomiums bestowed upon our system in all its 
parts, as it recently existed, and which distinguished educators and j^hilan- 
thropists In other states have urged upon the consideration of their legisla- 
tures, as worthy of being incorporated into their own systems, might seem 
disrespectful." * * * * * * 

" Other plans might be suggested that would, no doubt, if adopted, greatly 
add to the efficiency of our local supervision and inspection, and take the 
place of that which has recently been abolished ; but whether, at this time, 
any suggestions of this sort would be likely to meet with public favor, may 
well be questioned. From actual official information, obtained dm-ing the 
year 1846, the undersigned believed that the amount of compensation paid 
to town Superintendents and town officers for services connected with the 
schools, amounted to about $35,000 annually. It is not supposed that this 
amount exceeds the sums actually paid by the towns that year ; nor will it 
cover the expenses of 1848, by $10,000. The duties of the town Superinten- 
dents must now necessarily be extended, and their services increased ; and 
the aggregate annual compensation paid to these officers will, it is believed, 
on a Ciu-eful examination, exceed $45,000. Without any material increase 
of expense, provision might be made by law for the election by the people 
of inspectors of schools, in each Assembly district, whose compensation should 
be limited, and who could conveniently perform many of the duties of town 
Superintendents ; and thus, by dividing the labor and compensation between 
these officers, the aggregate expenses of both would not exceed the compen- 
sation of the latter officers." 

It is due to Mr. Benton, to say that in his official capacity as Superintendent 
he resisted to the utmost extent of his power and influence, the retrograde 
movements of the legislature in reference to the supervision of the schools : 
that he was a firm and devoted advocate of the introduction of the free 
school principle as a part of our system of pubhc instruction ; and that his 
administration of that system was characterised by an enlightened and discrim- 
inating regard to the public interests and welfare. 



, 69 

The operations of the Normal School during the year 1847, tended to strength- 
en the confidence of the people in this Institution and to reahze the expectations 
of the friends of education generally throughout the state. The number of pu- 
pils varied from 200 to 220 ; and the semi-annual graduatmg classes from 45 to 
65. The wliole number of graduates up to the 1st of January 1848, was 234 ; of 
whom 222were actually engaged in teaching the common schools of the state, 
and the whole number of pupils entered upon the register of the Institution was 
537, of whom 421 were then employed in the district schools. Truman H. 
BowEN had been appointed Teacher of Vocal Music, in place of Prof. Ilslet, 
and Miss Ann M.^rIa Ostrom, Teacher of Drawing, in place of Prof. Howard. 

The institution at this period however, received a severe blow, and the 
friends of education sustained an irreparable loss, by the death of Mr. Page 
the Principal of the school, which took place on the 1st day of January 1848. 
Although still in the prime of life, Mr. Page had attained a reputation and 
standing as a teacher, not surpassed in the Union. To intellectual qualifica- 
tions of the highest order, he added all those moral virtues and christian 
graces which are so indispensably requisite to the instructor of youth. He was 
in all respects admirably adapted to the performance of the high functions 
which had been devolved upon him : and to the perfect order, system and 
harmony which he infused into all its departments, and his luminous exposition 
of the duties, obligations and responsibilities of the pupils under his charge, 
a large share of the prosperity, and success of the Normal School was pre- 
eminently due. Fortunately for the interests and advantage of his numerous 
pupils and admirers, and the profession of teachers generally throughout the 
State and Union, he had completed the preparation and publication of his 
admirable course of Lectures annually delivered before the school, on the 
' ' Theory and Practice of Teacliing " — a work which embraces a comprehen- 
sive view of the wliole subject and is in all respects worthy of its distin- 
guished author and of the great cause to which he had, too assiduously, 
devoted his entire energies. 

Tlie Executive Committee with great unanimity designated Prof. Perkins to 
supjjly the station rendered vacant by the death of Mr. Page. To an inti- 
mate acquaintance with the plans and general policy of his predecessor in the 
conduct and discipline of the school. Prof. Perkins added all the intellectual 
and moral qualifications requisite to its successful administration ; and under 
his supervision and direction the institution has continued to maintain its 
high reputation, and to dispense its blessing over every section of the state. 

Administration of Christopher Morgan — Adoption of the Free School 
System— 184:8 to 1851. 

On the first day of January 1848, the Hon. Christopher Morgan, of 
Cayuga entered upon the discharge of the duties of the oifice of Secretary 
of State and Superintendent of common schools, to which he was elected in 
November preceding. A. G. Johnson, Esq., of Rensselaer, was in March 
thereafter appointed by him Deputy Superintendent, in place of Mr. 
Holmes. 

On the 12th of April, the legislature passed the "Act for the permanent 
establishment of the Norm.al School " by which the sum of fifteen thousand 
dollars (afterwards extended to $25,000) was appropriated for the erection 
of a suitable building for its accommodation, and the previous provision of 
law applicable to its supervision, mangement and government, were made 
permanent. Under this act the Executive Committee have erected a spacious 
and convenient Hall, in a commodious location in the neighborhood of the 
Capitol, and of the State Geological and Agricultm-al Rooms, in the city of 
Albany, where the school is now insuccessful operation. 

At the opening of the session of the legislature of 1849, Gov. Fish, in his 
annual message expresses his belief " that the restoration of the office of 
County Superintendent would be productive of good to the school system." 
In reference to the Normal School he observes, " This school is doing a great 
and good work. It has ceased to be an experiment, and under its present 



70 

judicious management, it is growing in the confidence of its friends, and 
attracting the interest of many -who once doubted its practicability or its 
usefulness." 

From the annual report of the Superintendent, it appeared that the num- 
ber of school districts in the state on the first day of July preceding was 
10,621 : the number of children between the ages of 5 and 16, 718,123 ; the 
number, of all ages under instruction during the year 1847 in the common 
schools of the state 775,723 ; the amount of public money expended in the 
payment of teachers wages during the same year- $639,008, and the amount 
contributed on the rate bills for this purpose 466,674, amounting in the 
aggregate to $1,105,682; the amount of public money expended in the 
purchase of libraries and school apparatus $81,624,00 and the number of 
volumes in the several district libraries 1,338,848, showing an increase of 
27,862 volumes since the preceding year. 

Schools for colored children had been kept in fifteen counties of the state, 
at which 4,741 children were in attendance, being an increase of 877, since 
1846, and of 2,185 since 1845 : and the amount of public money apportion- 
ed to such schools was $16,926.68. In a large number of the counties, how- 
ever, no effort had been made to collect accurate statistics in reference to 
these schools ; the number of colored children between the ages of 5 and 16 
residing in the state being estimated at not less than 11,000. 

" The colored population," observes the Superintendent, " is enumerated 
in the census of the State, and is a part of the basis of the distribution of 
the School Fund. Colored children are enmnerated by the trustees in their 
annual reports, they draw public money for the district in which they reside, 
and are equally entitled with white children to the benefit of it. In the 
rm-al districts of the State, colored children are generally admitted into the 
Common Schools. 

" If unreasonable prejudice exclude colored children from the village schools, 
the trustees are empowered to establish separate schools for them. The 
children attending draw the public money to which they are entitled, and the 
trustees ctiU exempt those parents who are unable to pay a rate-bill, the 
exemptions becoming a charge upon the whole district. A special appro- 
priation for incorporated villages, only excites prejudice and parsimony. 
The trustees of the village will, generally, expend the special appropriation, 
for the colored children, and the public money drawn by them wUl be shared 
among the white children of the village. 

" There seems to be no satisfactory reason for this special appropriation. It 
cannot be justly urged that negroes are an especial bm-den to incorporated 
villages any more than to cities, or rural districts, and that they are, therefore, 
entitled to an extraordinary allowance of money to educate them." 

Schools for the instruction of Indian children had been established upon 
the St. Regis, the Onondaga, the Cattaraugus and Allegany, and the Shine- 
cock Indian Reservations. In that of the St. Regis 50 children had attended 
school dm-ing a period of nine months, the average daily attendance being 35 ; 
in that of the Onondaga 61 children for 11 months, in those of the Allegany 
and Cattaraugus, 229 childi-en; and in that of the Shinecocks 40. 

The superintendent informs the legislatm-e that about four hundred appli- 
cations had been made to him for his oiScial approbation to the diversion of 
the whole or portions of the Library money to the payment of teachers wages, 
under the provisions of the act of 1847. "He has withheld it, mi all cases, 
believing that every volume of a well selected library is a perpetual teacher 
to all who will go to it for instruction." He expresses his beUef " that the 
district libraries cannot be too large and that the people are in no danger of 
learning too much. 

" Selections for the district libraries, ai'e made from the whole range of 
literature and science, with the exception of controversial books, political or 
religious ; history, biography, poetry, philosophy, mental, moral and natural, 
fiction ; indeed every department of human knowledge contributes its share 
to the district school Ubraiy. The object of this great charity was not 



71 

maerely to ftrniisli boots for children, but to establish in all the school dis- 
tricts, a miscellaneous library suited to the tastes and characters of every 
age. By means of this diffusive benevolence, the ligiht of knowledge pene- 
trates every portion of the State, and the sons of our farmers, merchants, 
mechanics ami laborers, have daily access to many well selected books, of 
•which, but for tliis sagacious policy of our State, a majority of them would 
have never heard. If knowledge is power, who can calculate the energy 
imparted to the people of tlas State by the district achool, and the district 
library ? " 

Teaehers's Institutes had been held under the provision of the act of 1847, 
in sixteen counties, at which 1096 teachers had been in attendance. The 
Superintendent recommends a considerable increase in the appropriation to 
this object. 

In reference to the abolition of the office of County Superintendent, the 
Superintendent observes : ^ 

" It is believed that the friends of the Common School system in the State, 
very generally desired the continuance of the office. It was, however, abolish- 
ed, without petitions from any considerable number of citizens, and without 
fiven proposing a substitute. 

" There is now no immediate officer between tliis Departmest and the 
town officers. Such an office is needed as the medium of communication 
between this Department and the nine hundred town superintendents, and 
«leven thousand school districts. The territory is too large ; its subdivi- 
sions too many ; its relations too diverse ; the local officers too numerous ; 
and the interval between the Department and them too wide, to permit that 
actual and minute supervision which is necessary to an efficient administra- 
tion of the School laws. 

" The undersigned would, therefore, recommend to the Legislature two 
measures, either of which, in his opinion, will be approved by the friends of 
the Common School 8ystem,and will supply a want daily felt in this Depart- 
ment. 

" 1st. A repeal of chap. 358, Laws of 1847, restoring the office of County 
Superintendent, and making it elective by the people. 

" 2d. The election of a Superintendent in every Assembly district, except 
an the city ol' New York, and the cities which now have,or shall hereafter have 
a city Superintendent, or Board of Education, to manage their school affairs. 

" If the latter measure should be adopted, I would recommend that the 
ealary of such officer be fixed at not less than $200 per year, in each 
Assembly district, composed of towns and that the same be a covxnty charge ; 
that the salary of City Superintendents be fixed by the civil authorities 
thereof, as shall be provided in their several charters or city laws and 
ordinances ; and that not less than $200 of such salary be a county charge. 
Among the powers and duties of such District Superintendent should be 
the following : — To make the abstract of the reports of Town Superinten- 
dents in his district, at the same time and in the same manner row requir- 
ed of the County Clerks ; to recommend persons from his district as pupils 
in the State Normal School ; to recommend eadh year two teachers in his dis- 
trict as worthy to receive a State certificate ; to visit each school in his 
district at least twice a year, once in the summer and once in the winter, to 
make such report of his visitation as may be required by the State Super- 
intendent ; to hear and determine all the controversies arising in his dis- 
trict under ihe school laws, an appeal being allowed from his decision to 
this Depaj-tment. The Superintendent makes these suggestions with diffi- 
dence, and only from a sense of their necessity." 

The superintendent then proceeds to examine the present condition of 
the school law, in reference to the provision for the support of schools, upon 
■which he bases a recommendation for the adoption of the Free School sys- 
tem : 

" The mode of supporting a school under the present sjstem," he observes, 
"h as follows.: " 



72 

" The Trustees employ a qualified teacher for stipulated wages. At the. 
close of his term, they give him an order upon the town superintendent for 
sueh portion of the public money, as may have been voted by the district 
for the term, or in case no vote has been taken, for such portion as they 
think proper. But in no case can the Trustees legally draw for more money 
than is due the teacher at the date of the order. If the public money is not 
sufficient to pay the teacher's wages, the trustees proceed to make out a 
rate-bill for the residue, charging each parent or guardian, according to the 
number of days' attendance of his children. Under the present law, the 
trustees have power to exempt indigent persons, and the amount exempted 
is a charge upon the district, and may be immediately collected by tax, or 
added to any tax thereafter levied. After the rate-bill is completed, thirty 
days' notice of its completion is given by the trustees, one of whom must 
be in attendance, on a day and place appointed in said notice, once a week 
for ?wo successive weeks, to receive payment ; and dm'ing the whole of the 
said thirty days any person may pay to either of the trustees, or to the 
teacher, the sum charged to him upon the rate-bill. At the expiration of 
the thirty days, if all the persons named in the rate-bill, have not voluntari- 
ly paid, the trustees put it witli their warrant, into the hands of the dis- 
trict collector, who has the same authority to collect it by levy and sale 
of goods and chattels, as a town collector. The collector is also authorized 
to collect fees, not only upon the money paid to him, but upon that paid 
Toluntai'ily to the trustees and teacher, and he is allowed thirty days to 
make his return to the trustees. 

" A more troublesome or vexatious system could not well be devised. 

" A teacher having performed his contract, is yet obliged, unless the 
trustees advance the money, to wait thirty, or sixty days for his pay. The 
first thirty days' delay under the notice is no advantage to any one. The 
time of the trustees is spent uselessly. 

" Nothing is gained by payment to the trustees. Is there any other 
instance upon the Statute book in which legislation compels a man to 
wait sixty days for his wages after he has completed his work ? In the 
absence of any contract, the wages of the laborer are due and payable, when 
his work is done. In the case of the teacher, the payment of his wages is 
postponed for sixty days after his school is closed, for payment from trustees 
cannot be enforced, until the time fixed by law for collection has expu-ed. 

" A slight error in the apportiomnent of the rates, or in the legal forms of 
making it, subjects the trustees to a suit by any one of whom a few cents 
may have been illegally collected ; and, unfortunately, there are not want- 
ing in every town persons ready to avail themselves of sueh errors. 

" The trustees can, if they choose, make out a tax for the amount of ex- 
emptions, and the collector is bound to collect it for the trifling fees, upon a 
five, or ten dollar tax-Hst. 

" A law has been passed, authorizing courts to deny costs to a plaintifi' in 
a suit against the trustees, and also authorizing boards of supervisors to 
order a tax to be assessed upon a district to refund costs and expenses in- 
curred in suits by, or against them, on account of the discharge of their 
official duties. — But the law allows them nothing for their responsibility and 
labor, either in the discharge of their duties, or in the prosecution, or defence 
of suits. 

" Now, a free school system may be devised that shall relieve trustees 
from the duty of making out rate-bills, or tax-lists, in any case and from all 
litigation arising therefrom, and which shall secure to the teacher his pay 
when his work is done. 

" It may be made applicable only to the towns, requiring the cities, how- 
ever, to make their schools free, but leaving them to adopt such an organ- 
ization as shall be suited to their peculiar wants. 

"Teachers complain of the rate-bill system, not only because it improperly 
withholds their wages, but because the trustees find great difficulty in ex- 
ercising with fidelity, and at the same time satisfactorily the power of exemp- 



73 

tion. — While the cupidity of tbe tax -payer is excited, the pride of men of 
moderate means is aroused, and their sense of independence revolts at being 
certified and put upon the record as indigent persons. 

" The rate bill system requires every person to pay in proportion to the 
attendance of his children. How strong then is the inducement of many 
parents, to winb at absence, and truancy, and how little are they inclined 
to second by 23arental authority the efforts of the teacher to enforce punctu- 
ality and regularity of attendance. The fact that the number of children 
attending school less than four months, uniformly exceeds the number attend- 
ing a longer time, furnishes strong evidence for believing that the rate biU 
system is the principal cause of the irregular attendance of scholars. 

" Letters have been addressed to the Superintendent from various part« 
of the State, urging him to recommend to the Legislature the free school 
system, and assuring him that the peojsle are ready to sustain the Legisla- 
ture." 

" It is urged by the opponents of the system that those who have property 
are taxed to educate their own, as well as the children of the poor ; and 
that those who are blessed with property, but denied children, are also obliged 
to contribute something for the education of the indigent. Those who have 
omitted their duty, or are more fortunate than their neighbors in the pos- 
session of property have no reason to complain of the trifling burthen which 
good fortune imposes upon them. 

" Are property holders wronged or injured by this system of taxation ? 

" Property is the creature of law. Its ownership is regulated by law. 
Even the income of some kinds of property is limited by law. Human beings 
ai-e property in South Carolina ; and the taxes assessed upon them, and paid 
out of the earnings of theii- labor, go to the support of free schools, while in 
this state there can be no property in man. 

" Land is property, and in civilized countries it constitutes the bulk of 
all property ; yet it is not property in the absence of law. Wliat idea 
of property in land has a Camanche Indian, or a Calmuck Tartar ? To 
him the land is as free for his roaming, as the air for his breathing; or the 
water for his drink. The wild Bedouin will guard as his own, his tent, his 
camel, his wife ; but his laws are the keenness of his scimetar, and the fleet- 
ness of his steed. 

" The security of property is one of the paramount objects of govei-nment ; 
but how shall that secm-ity be attained ! By the stern restraints and crush- 
ing force of militaiy power ? 

" The experience of the last year, in Europe and America, has proven that 
there is gi-eater security for persons and property, in the general intelligence 
and education of the people, than in an overawing soldiery. 

" Europe has been convulsed — cities have been the scenes of fearful and 
mortal strife — fields have been laid waste by contending armies — govern- 
ments have been overthrown — revolution has followed revolution — uncer- 
tainty and insecurity are stamped upon all things — political changes have 
been eifected only by civil war and commotion. 

" The people of the United States have effected the choice of a Chief 
Magistrate, involving a change in the policy of the government. It was 
accomplished in a day, with the cheerful and peaceful acquiescence of the 
Union. 

" These are the results of the intelligence and moral elevation of the Amer- 
ican people. 

" There is a moral and intellectual power in the universal education of 
the people which furnishes more abiding secm-ity for persons and property 
than disciplined armies. 

Property must be taxed to support a soldiery. Why should it not then 
contribute to a system of protection which may preclude the necessity of 
armies ? 

" Crime and pauperism are too often the results of ignorance. The detec- 
tion and punishment of the one and the support of the other, are mainij' 
effected by the imposition of taxes upon property. 



74 

** Is it not wise, then, to establish a system of education, universal and 
complete, which may in a great measure, prevent the commission of crime 
and avoid the evils of pauperism ? " 

On the 26th of March, 1849, the legislature passed the " Act establishing 
Free Schools throughout the State." Its prominent provisions were the fol- 
lowing : 

Common schools in the several school districts in this state were declared 
free to all persons residing in the district over five and under twenty -one 
years of age. Persons not residents of a district were to be admitted into 
the schools kept therein with the approbation in writing of the trustees 
thereof, or a majority of them. 

It was made the duty of the several boards of supervisors, at their annual 
meetings, to cause to be levied and collected from their respective counties, 
in the same manner as county taxes, a sum equal to the amount of state 
school moneys apportioned to such counties and to apportion the same 
among the towns and cities in the same manner as the moneys received from 
the State are apportioned. They were also to cause to be levied and collec- 
ted from each of the towns in their respective counties, in the same manner 
as other town taxes, a sum equal to the amount of state school moneys ap- . 
portioned to said towns respectively. 

The trustees of each school district within thirty, and not less than 
fifteen days preceding the time for holding the annual district meeting in 
each year, were directed to prepare an estimate of the amount of money 
necessary to be raised in the district for the ensuing year, for the payment 
of the debts and expenses to be incurred by the district for fuel, furniture, 
school apparatus, repairs, and insurance of school house, contingent expenses, 
and teachers wages exclusive of the public money and the money required by 
law to be raised by the counties and towns and the income of local funds, and 
to cause printed or written notices thereof to be posted for two weeks pre- 
vious to said meeting, upon the school house door, and in three or more of 
the most public places in said district. The trustees were directed to present 
such estirjate to such meeting, and the voters present of full age residing 
in such school district and entitled to hold land in the state, who own or 
lease real property in such district, subject to taxation for school purposes, 
or who may have paid any district tax within two years preceding, or who 
own any personal property liable to be taxed for school purposes in such 
district, exceeding fifty dollars in value, exclusive of such as is exempt 
from execution, and no others, were entitled to vote thereon for each item 
separately, and so much of said estimate as shall be approved by a majority 
of such voters present, was required to be levied and raised by tax on said 
district, in the same manner as other district taxes are now by law levied 
and collected. 

Whenever the voters of any district at their annual meeting refuse or 
neglect to raise by tax a sum of money, which added to the public money, 
and the money raised by county and towns will support a school in said 
district for at least four months in a year, keep the school house in proper 
repair and furnish the necessary fuel, then it was made the duty of said 
trustees to repair the school house, purchase the necessary fuel, and employ 
a teacher for four months, and the expense was directed to be levied and 
collected in the manner above provided. 

Free and gratuitous education was to be given to each pupil, in each of 
the common, public, ward and district schools in the respective cities of 
this State, now incorporated or hereafter to be incorporated, including 
the schools of the public school society in the city of New York, according 
to any law now in force in said cities. And by each city, where such free 
and gi-atuitous education is not already established, laws and ordinances 
were without delay, to be passed, providing for, and securing and sustaining 
the system in each of their common, public, ward or district schools. 

All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with the provisions of the act, 
other than those relating to free schools in any cities in this state, were 



75 

The electors of the State were to determine by ballot at the annual elec- 
tion to be held iu November following, whether this act should or should 
not become a law. 

In case a majority of the votes cast were found to be against such law, 
the act was to be null and void ; otherwise to take effect immediately. 

At the annual state election, held on the 6th of November, the whole 
number of votes cast for the New School Law was 249,872, and the whole 
number against it 91,951, being a majority in its fqvor of 157,921. Four 
counties only, viz : Tompkins, Chenango, Cortland and Otsego, giving major- 
ities against it, amounting in the aggi'egate, to 1,257, while the aggregate 
majorities in its favor, cast in the remaining fifty-four counties was 158,181. 
Mr. Morgan was re-elected Secretary of state and Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools. 

The following is a statement of the votes of the several counties, showing 
the whole number of votes given, and the majorities in each for and against 
the act : 



COUNTIES. 



Albany, 

Allegany, 

Broome, 

Cattaraugus, 

Cayuga, 

Chatauque, 

Chemung, 

Chenango, 

Clinton, 

Columbia, 

Cortland,* 

Delaware, 

Dutchess, 

Erie, 

Essex, 

Franklin, 

Fulton and Hamilton,. 

Genesee, 

Greene, 

Herkimer, 

Jefferson, 

Kings, 

Lewis, 

Livingston 

Madison,, 

Monroe, 

Montgomery, , 

New York, 

Niagara, 

Oneida, 

Onondaga, 

Ontario, , 

Orange, 

Orleans, 

Oswego, 





Against the 


Majority 


Major 


School Law. 


New School 
Law. 


for. 


ag'st. 


8604 


1806 


6798 




3840 


1669 


2171 




2584 


1554 


1030 


, 


4003 


1303 


2700 





5419 


3056 


2373 




4648 


2550 


2098 


^^ 


2799 


812 


1987 




3079 


3511 




432 


2855 


747 


2108 




5476 


987 


4489 


, 


1316 


925 


391 




2789 


2663 


120 




7606 


1279 


6327 




8800 


1542 


7258 




2633 


854 


1779 




1838 


460 


1378 




2270 


1133 


1137 




2758 


1254 


1504 




2935 


2140 


795 




3393 


1461 


1932 




5997 


3312 


2685 




8549 


159 


8390 




1961 


1206 


755 




3851 


1791 


2060 




3912 


2268 


1644 




7541 


2323 


5218 




4222 


785 


3437 


....•>• 


21052 


1313 


19739 




2853 


1881 


972 




8506 


2911 


4595 




7940 


2002 


6938 




4611 


1683 


2928 




4448 


2288 


2160 


., 


2804 


1334 


1470 




5474 


2350 


SI 24 





*Including the votes given for and against the " Free School Law," and 
for and against the " School Law," the majority against the law in this 
oounty was 80. 



76 



COUNTIES. 


For the New 
School Law. 


Against the 

New School 

Law. 


Majority 
for. 


Major 

ag'st. 




4009 
1211 
2652 
7254 
1437 
1117 
4997 
4749 
2304 
2751 
2799 
5714 
2479 
2421 
2343 
2459 
5688 
1708 
4109 
4277 
4554 
3000 
2480 


4019 
277 
396 
978 
22 
414 

2546 

2110 
304 

2674 
886 

2321 
938 
499 
837 

3177 

1182 
679 

2298 

2619 
982 

1652 
829 




10 


Putnam 


934 
2256 
6276 
1415 

703 
2451 
2639 
2000 
77 
1913 
3393 
1541 
1922 
1506 












Richmond, 





















Seneca 








Suffolk 








Tioga, 






718 


Ulster 


4506 
1029 
1811 
1658 
3572 
1348 
1651 












Westchester, 








Yates 










249,872 


91,951 


158,181 


1240 



Gn the 10th of December, 1849, Samuel S. Randall was re-appointed 
Deputy Superintendent of Common Schools, in the place of Mi'. Johnson, 
appointed Deputy Secretary. 

Notwithstanding the almost unanimous vote of the electors of the state in 
favor of the act of 1849,it was met at the outset of its practical administration 
by a violent and wide spead hostility. In nearly half the counties of the 
state, the Board of Supervisors had adjourned their sessions, before the 
official annunciation of its adoption, and consequently without making pro- 
vision for the additional county tax required by the second section. The 
heavy deficiency of funds thus occasioned was left to be supplied by a district 
tax ; and the great inequality in the taxable property of the several districts 
was severely felt, and contributed to a very great extent, to render the prac- 
tical operation of the new law, burdensome and oppressive. Many of the 
heaviest tax payers had no direct interest in the schools ; and in general 
wherever they constituted a majority of the legal voters of the district, they 
refused all appropriations for the svipport of the school beyond the four 
months required by law. Petitions for a repeal or modification of the law, 
were forwarded in great numbers from every section of the state : and a very 
general disaffection existed towards the new system. 

By an act passed on the 30th of March, the sum of $250 was appropriated, 
annually for three years to the Trustees of such Academies as the Regents of 
the University, should designate for that purpose, on condition that at least 
twenty individuals in such Academies should be instructed in the science of 
common school teaching for at least four months during each of said yea,rs. 

On the first day of January, 1850, the Superintendent forwarded to the 
legislature his annual report, by which it appeared that the number of school 
districts in the state, was 11,191, the number of cliildren between five and 
sixteen 739,655 and the whole number of children taught during the year 
1848,778,309. The recommendation to restore the office of county Superin- 



77 



tendent, or to create tliat of assembly district Superintendent, was renewediy 
urged upon the legislature, together with several other important modificatiou 
of the existing law. 

Several bills were brought forward in each branch of tlie legislature, in ac- 
cordance with these recommendations, and with the object of removiurr the 
obnoxious featm-es of the new law. Able reports were made by Mr. Bekkman 
of New York, Chairman of the Literature Committee of the senate, and by- 
Mr. KiNusLEY of Cortland from a select Committee of the assembly, to whom 
the various petitions for a repeal or modification of the law, were referred. 
Mr. Burroughs of Orleans, the Chairman of the Committee on colleges, acade- 
mies and common schools, brought forward a bill, providing for the levyin>r 
of a general state tax of $800,000 annually, for tlie support of the schools in 
conjunction with the anmud revenue of the school fund. 

This bill passed the Assembly by a vote of 70 in the affirmative to 30 in 
the negative ; but no action was liad on it in the Senate. In that body a 
bill was introduced by Mr. Mann, of Oneida, refei-ring the question of re- 
peal of the act of 1849, to the decision of the people at the ensuinc election 
which passed the Senate, and received the assent of the House, after mid- 
night of the last day of the session. 

The friends of Free Schools, after the most strenuous and persevering 
though ineffectual eiforts to obtain such amendments or modification of the 
law as might render its provisions generally acceptable, determined, under 
these circumstances, to oppose its unconditional repeal. They united, with 
great unanimity, in the call for a State Convention at Syracuse, which was 
held on the 10th day of July, the Superintendent of Common Schools Mr. 
Morgan, presiding ; at which, resolutions were adopted in favor of the prin- 
ciple of Free Schools, and recommending the friends of education generally 
throughout the State, to oppose the repeal of the existing law with the view 
of amending and perfecting its details. An animated and vigorous canvass 
ensued — the opponents of the law insisting upon its unconditional repeal, with- 
out regard to the principle involved, and the friends of Free Schools, while 
conceding to the fullest extent the objections ui-ged against the existiuo- law, 
insisting upon its retention on the Statute book, for the sake of that ririnci- 
ple, and pledging themselves to unite with its opponents in such amendments 
and modifications of the law itself, as public opinion should demand, and the 
best interests of education require. So obnoxious, however, were the main 
features of the law to the mhabitants of the several districts generally, that 
an aggregate majority of 46,874 was obtained, at the annual election in the 
fall of 1850, in forty-two of the fifty-nine counties of the State, in favor of 
its repeal. In the remaining seventeen counties, including the City and 
County of New York, the aggregate majority against repeal amounted to 
71,912. The whole number of votes cast on this question (exclusive of im- 
perfect and scattering ballots) was 393,654 ; of which 184,308 were given 
for, and 209,346 against the repeal of the law; leaving a majority of 25 038 
against such repeal. 

The following Statement of the vote in the several Counties of the State, 
for and against the Repeal of the Free School Law, is derived from the offi- 
cial returns to the Secretary of State's Office : 



COUNTIES. 



For Repeal 
of the new 
School Law 



Albany, 

Allegany, .... 

Broome, 

Cattaraugus, 

Cayuga, 

Chautauque, 
Chemung, .... 
Chenango, .... 



3310 

3787 
8021 
3175 
3639 
4724 
2315 
4828 



Against Repeal 
of the new 
School Law. 



85S2 
2161 
1846 
2196 
3409 
3094 
2135 
2358 



Majority I Majority 



for I 



againstj 



Repeal. Repeal. 



1626 
175 
979 
230 

1630 
180 

2470 



5272 



78 



COUNTIES. 



Clinton, 

Columbia, , 

Cortland, 

Delaware, 

Dutchess, 

Erie, 

Essex, 

Franklin, 

Fulton & Hamilton,. 

Genesee, 

Greene, 

Herkimer, 

Jefferson, 

Kings, 

Lewis, 

Livingston 

Madison 

Moni-oe, 

Montgomery, 

New York, 

Niagara, 

Oneida, 

Onondaga, , 

Ontario, 

Orange 

Orleans, 

Oswego, 

Otsego, 

Putnam, 

Queens 

Rensselaer, 

Richmond, 

Rockland, , 

St. Lawrence, 

Saratoga 

Schenectady, 

Schoharie, 

Seneca 

Steuben, 

Suffolk 

Sullivan, 

Tioga, 

Tompkins, 

Ulster, 

Warren,. 

Washington , 

Wayne, 

Westchester 

Wyoming, 

Yates, 



For Repeal 
of the new 
School Law 

l963~ 
2666 
3150 
4068 
2841 
4672 
2138 
1664 
2610 
2830 
3217 
3588 
6064 
1060 
1709 
3599 
3896 
5099 
2253 

987 
3461 
7414 
4657 
3712 
4183 
2835 
4241 
3816 

845 
1542 
3370 

351 

826 
4628 
4211 
1365 
4169 
1810 
5377 
2252 
1748 
2784 
4441 
3826 
1806 
3726 
4742 
2164 
3155 
2186 



Against Repeal 

of the new 

School Law. 



184308 



1893 
4394 
1153 
2040 
6764 
6415 
1559 
1221 
1537 
1698 
1847 
3038 
3958 

11136 
455 
2548 
3254 
5031 
3295 

38816 
2169 
6517 
6583 
2970 
3274 
1523 
3770 
2096 
959 
2050 
7176 
1212 
948 
3549 
3077 
1417 
1611 
2113 
4016 
1884 
1475 
1130 
1924 
4063 
1102 
2718 
2605 
4436 
1610 
1525 



209316 



Majority 

for 
Repeal. 

~ 70 " 

1997 
2028 



579 

443 

973 

1132 

1379 

50 

2106 

964 

1051 

642 

68 



1292 

897 

742 
909 

1312 
471 

1720 



1069 
1134 

2548 

1861 

368 

273 

1654 

2517 

704 
1008 
2137 

1545 
661 



46874 



Majority 

against 

Repeal 



1828 



3923 
1743 



10076 



1042 
37827 



1926 



114 

508 

3806 

861 

112 



52 
303 



237 



2272 



71912 



Majority against repeal, 25,038. 

In his annual message at the opening of the Legislature of 1851, Governor 
Hunt thus adverted to the subject : 

"The operations of the act of 1849, estabKshing free schools, have not 



79 

produced all the beneficial effects, nor imparted the general satisfaction an- 
ticipated by the friends of the measure. It has been the policy of our State 
from an early period, to promote the cause of popular education by liberal 
and enlightened legislation. A munificent fund created by a series of mea- 
sures, all aiming at the same great result, has been dedicated by the Consti- 
tution to the support of common schools, and the annual dividend from this 
source will gradually increase. Tbe duty of the State to provide such means 
and facilities as will extend to all its children the blessings of education, and 
especially to confer upon the poor and unfortunate a participation in the ben- 
efits of our common schools, is a principle which has been fully recognized 
and long acted upon by the Legislature and the people. 

"The vote of 1849, in favor of the free school law, and the more recent 
vote by a reduced majority against its repeal, ought doubtless to be regarded 
as a re-affirmation of tliis important principle, but not of the provisions of 
the bill, leaving it incumbent upon the Legislature, in the exercise of a sound 
discretion, to make such enactments as will accomplish the general design, 
■without injustice to any of our citizens. An essential change was made by 
the law under consideration, in imposing the entire burthen of the schools 
upon property, in the form of a tax, without reference to the direct benefits 
derived by the tax payer. The provisions of the act for carrying this 
plan into effect, have produced oppressive inequalities and loud com- 
plaints. 

" In some districts the discontent and strife attendant upon these evils, 
have disturbed the harmony of society. An earnest effort should be made 
to reconcile differences of opinion, to remedy the grievances arising from the 
imperfect operation of the law, and to equalize the weight of taxation by 
such principles of justice and equity as Avill ensure popular sanction. The 
success of our schools must depend, in a gi'eat degree, upon the united coun- 
sels and friendly co-operation of the people in each small community compo- 
sing a district, and nothing can be more injurious to the system of common 
school education than feuds and contentions among those who are responsible 
for its healthful action and preservation. 

" It cannot be doubted that all property, estates, whether large or small, 
will derive important advantages from the universal education of the peo- 
♦ pie. A well considered system, which shall ensure to the children of all, the 
blessings of moral and intellectual culture, will plant foundations broao i;r.d 
deep, for public and private virtue ; and its effects will be seen in the dimi- 
nution of vice and crime, the more general practice of industry, scbriaty 
and integrity, conservative and enlightened legislation, and univer.'^al obedi- 
ence to the laws. In such acommmiity the rights of property are stable, and 
the contributions imposed on it are essentially lightened. But I entertain a 
firm conviction that the present law requires a tnorough revision, and that an 
entire change in the mode i.i assessment is indispensable." 

On the 7th of January, 1851. Mr. Morgan transmitted to the Legislature 
his third annual report as Superint -niieut, from which it appears thnt the 
whole number of districts in the State was 11,397 ; the number of children 
between five and sixteen, on the Slst of December, 1849, 735,188; and the 
number of children taught during the preceding year in the several common 
schools of the State, 794,500 — being an excess of 59,312 over the number 
between the ages of five and sixteen, and of 16,191 over the whole number 
previously taught. The entire expenditure for school purposes, during the 
year reported, was $1,766,668.24. The number of volumes in the several 
district libraries was about 1,500,000. The Superintendent again urged upon' 
the Legislature the importance of a more thorough and effici'-nt local super- 
vision, through the agency of a County or Assembly District Superintendent; 
alluded to the increased usefulness and flourisliing prospects of the Normal 

ch cols in which, in addition to the usual course of instruction, a limited 
number of Indian youlh had been received as pupils during the preceding 
year ; and concluded by strongly urging upon the attention of the legislature 
the expediency and necessity of such an amendment of the existing law, es- 



80 

lalolishing Free Schools througliout the State, as was demanded by an en^ 
lightened public sentiment. '• The history of the past year," he observes, 
" in reference to this great enterprise, has been one of mingled triumph and 
disaster, The principle incorporated in the ' Act for the estabhshment of 
Free Schools thi-oughout the State' has been again subjected to the test of 
public opinion. In their almost unanimous approval of that principle in the 
canvass of 1849, the electors very generally overlooked the speeifie details 
of the bill submitted to their sanction, confiding in the disposition of the 
Legislature to modify such of its features as might be practically objection- 
able. Serious obstacles to the successful operation of the law presented 
themselves almost upon the thi-eshold of its administration. The boards of 
supervisors in more than one-half of the counties of the State had adjourned 
their annual sessions before the act took effect, without making the appro- 
priations required by its provisions, leaving the several school districts to 
sustain a most unequal and oppressive burden of taxation for the support of 
their schools. 

" Inequalities in the valuations of taxable property contributed, in many 
localities, gi-eatly to aggi'avate this burden, and a spirit of opposition to the 
new law, inflamed by its determined opponents, manifested itself at the 
primary district meetings, and too often resulted in the entire rejection of 
the estimates prepared by the trustees, and the limitation of the term of 
school to the lowest possible period authorized by law. Appeals were as- 
siduously made to the cupidity of the heavy tax-payers — their interests 
sought to be arrayed against that of their less favored brethi-en, and against 
the "interests of their children ; their passions stimulated by the real inequal- 
ities as well as fancied injustice of the burdens imposed by the new law, 
were readily enlisted against every attempt to carry it into operation. Nu- 
merous petitions were sent to the Legislature, praying for its repeal, or for 
such amendments as might render it more generally acceptable. 

" It was obvious that the law was liable to just and serious objections, and 
it did not meet with that general approval which was necessary to ensure its 
success. Under these circumstances, the friends of the new system were 
among the first to concede the defects of the bill, and while urging the pres- 
ervation of the fundamental principle which it involved, were anxiously^ so- 
licitous so to modify the details of the measure, as to obviate all its obnoxious 
featm-es. At their suggestion and Avith their co-operation, bills were introdu- 
ced into both branches of the Legislature, providing for a general and equit- 
able system of State or county taxation, for the purpose of rendering the 
common schools free to all, dispensing with the necessity of a district assess- 
ment, out of which the principal embarrassment had originated. In the As- 
sembly, the measures thus proposed were approved by a large majority ; the 
Senate did not concur in the action of the House, but sent to the House a 
bill proposing a re-submission of the law to the people. At the close of the 
session, and when it became evident that no modification of the obnoxious 
law could be obtained, this bill received the assent of the House. 

" By the adoption of this measure, the friends of free schools found them- 
selves in a very embarassing position; they were compelled either to give their 
votes and influence in favor of the contmuance of a law, some of the distinc- 
tive feature of which were at variance both with their wishes and judgment, 
or, by sanctioning its repeal, hazard the principle which. had been deliberate- 
ly adopted by the Legislature, and approved by the emphatic expression of 
the public will. The issue thus presented could not fail of being greatly mis- 
apprehended. While the electors secured the renewed triumph of the prin- 
ciple involved, there can be no doubt that thousands of votes were cast for 
the repeal of the law, by citizens who desired only its amendment, and who 
would have recorded their suffrages in favor of a system of free-schools pro- 
perly guarded, had the form of the ballot permitted them to do so. 

" It remains then for the Legislature to give efficacy to this renewed ex- 
pression of the popular will, by the enactment of a law whichj shall definitive- 
ly engraft the free school principle upon our existing system of primary 



81 

education, and at the same time remove all just cause of complaint as to the 
inequality of taxation. District taxation has been found to be unjust, un- 
equal and oppressive. It should therefore at once be abandoned, so far as 
the ordinary support of the schools is concerned. The funds necessary for 
payment of teachers' wages, in addition to the amount received from the 
State Treasury, should be provided either by a State tax equitably levied on 
real and personal property according to a fixed and uniform valuation, by 
a county and town tax, levied and assessed in the same manner, or by such 
a combination of these three modes as might be deemed most expe- 
dient and judicious. 

" The common schools of the State should be declared free to every resi- 
dent of the respective districts, of the proper age to participate in their 
benefits ; and their support should be made a charge upon the whole pro- 
perty ,_ either of the state at large, or of the respective counties and towns 
in whieh they are situated. 

" The bill which passed the Assembly at its last session, provided for the 
levying of an annual tax of $800,000 on the real and personal property of 
the state according to the assessed valuation of such property, and for the 
distribution of the aggregate amount so to be raised, among the several 
coxmties and towns of the state, according to the nmnber of children, 
of proper school age, residing in each. This sum, together with the amount 
annually apportioned from the revenue of the common school fund, would, 
it Avas supjjosed, be sufficient for the support of the several schools of 
the state.during an average period of eight months in each year. The whole 
amount expended for teachers' wages, during the year 1849, was $1,322,- 
696 24, to which is to be added an aggregate amount of $110,000 for 
library purposes, making in the whole $1,432,696 24. The superintendent, 
however, entertains no doubt that the amount proposed to be raised by the 
bill referred to, in conjunction with the State appropriation, the revenue 
for which is rapidly and steadily increasing, will be amply adequate to 
the payment of teachers' wages for the average length of time dm-ing which 
the schools have heretofore been taught, and to the annual and adequate 
replenishment of the libraries and necessary apparatus in the schools. 

" Under the present defectively administered system of assessment, how- 
ever, such a tax will operate very imequally in different sections of the 
State. The standard of valuation, both of real and personal property, varies, 
as is well known, in nearly every county of the State ; while in some it is 
estimated at its fair and market value, in others it is assessed at thi-ee- 
fourths, two-thirds and sometimes as low as one-half its actual value. If, 
therefore the existing standard of valuation is to be made the basis of the 
apportionment of the proposed tax, it is manifest that a very unjust and 
oppressive burden will be cast upon those counties where the assessment is 
in strict accordance with the provisions of law, for the benefit of those 
sections in which its requirements ai-e evaded by an arbitrary standard of 
valuation. 

" The distribution of money when raised, serves likewise to render this 
disproportion still more manifest, that being based upon the population ac- 
cording to the last preceding census of the respective counties." 

" Should the legislature deem it expedient to charge the annual support 
of the schools, over and above the revenue of the school fund, upon the 
taxable property of the State, and to retain the existing mode of distribu- 
tion, the necessity of devising some mode by which the standard of valua- 
tion should be as nearly as practicable imiform thoughout the state, will be 
apparent. If this can be accomplished, or if the distribution of the funds 
raised were directed to be made upon the same basis with the apportion- 
ment of the tax, there can be no doubt,in the judgment of the Superintendent, 
that a state tax for the support of our common schools will prove the 
simplest, most efficient and beneficial mode of providing for the object in 
view ; the establishment and mamtenance of a system of free school educa- 
tion, in accordance with the expressed wishes of the inhabitants of the State. 
6 



82 

" If, ho-wever, this were found impracticable, the same result may be 
obtained by requiring the board of supervisors of each county of the State 
to raise twice the amount apportioned to the county, as a county tax, and 
levy an equal amount as a town tax, in the mode prescribed by the exist- 
ing law, which requires only an equal amount to be levied as a county and 
town tax respectively. This provision would simply increase the amount 
of school money now by law required to be raised, one third, while it would 
entirely dispense with district taxation, for the current support of the schools. 
Inequalities in the standard of valuation adopted by the respective counties, 
■would in this case prove unjust and burdensome to none ; as the existing law 
has made complete provision for the adjustment of such inequalities in the 
case of joint districts formed from parts of two or more counties or towns. 
The whole amount of taxable property of ^each county would contribute 
in equal and fair proportions to the support of the schools located in its 
territory ; and the angry dissensions growing out of the necessity of dis- 
trict taxation, the fruitful source of nearly all the opposition which has been 
made to the existing law, wotild be averted. 

" In apportioning the public money, and the money raised by a county or 
State tax among the several school districts, the Superintendent is of opin- 
ion that some more effectual provision than now exists, should be made for 
the smaller and weaker districts, upon whom the burden of supporting a 
school for any considerable length of time during the year, is peculiarly 
oppressive. If a specified amount, say for instance fifty dollars, were re- 
quired to be apportioned to every duly organized district whose report for 
me preceding year shall be found in accordance with law, leaving the balance 
to be apportioned according to the number of children between the ages of 
four and twenty-one years residing in the district, the necessary encour- 
agement would be afforded to every district, however limited its means, or 
however sparse its population, while ample resources would be left for larger 
and more populous districts. The several districts being thus furnished 
with adequate funds for the maintenance of efficient schools during an 
average period of eight months in each year, the trustees should be peremp- 
torily required to expend the moneys thus placed at their disposal, in the 
employment of suitably qualified teachers for such a length of time as those 
means may justify. 

" Such an arrangement would, it is believed, prove almost universally ac- 
ceptable to the people of the State. The principle involved has repeatedly 
received the sanction of public sentiment. It is in accordance with the 
enlightened spirit of the age. It is the only system compatible with the 
genius and spirit of our republican institutions. It is not a novelty, now 
for the first time sought to be engrafted upon our legislation, but a princi- 
ple recognized and carried into practical operation in our sister State of 
Massachusetts from the earliest period of its colonial history — indentified 
with her greatness and prosperity, her influence and her wealth, and trans- 
planted from her soil to that of some of the younger States of the Union. 

" In each of our own cities, and in many of our larger villages, it has 
been established and successfully sustained by the general approval of their 
citizens, and wherever it has obtained a foothold it has never been abandon- 
ed. It is only requisite to adjust the details of the system equitably and 
fairly, to commend it to the approbation of every good citizen as the noblest 
palladium and most eff^ectual support of our free institutions. 

" The existing law has excited a degi'ee of opposition which was not an- 
ticipated, but it is believed that it has grown out of the defects of the law, 
rather than from any prevailing hostility to the principle of free schools. 
" No law can be successfully and prosperously administered under our 
government, which does not receive the general approval of the people. It 
is the earnest desire, therefore, of the Superintendent, that the present law 
should be so amended as to produce greater equality — to remove all reason- 
able ground of complaint, and to render om- great system of education more 
efficient and useful. 



83 

"Tlieideaof universal education is the grand central idea of the age. 
Upon this broad and comprehensive basis, all the experience of the past, all 
the crowding phenomena of the present, and all our hopes and aspirations 
for the future, must rest. Our forefathers have transmitted to us a noble in- 
heritance of national, intellectual, moral and religious freedom. They have 
confided our destiny as a people to our own hands. Upon our individual 
and combined intelligence, virtue and patriotism, rests the solution of the 
great problem of self-government. We should be untrue to ourselves, un- 
true to the cause of liberty, of civilization and humanity, if we neglected 
the assiduous cultivation of those means, by which alone we can secure the 
realization of the hopes we have excited. Those means are the universal 
education of our future citizens, without discrimination or distinction. 
Wherever in oui- midst a human being exists, with capacities and faculties 
to be developed, improved, cultivated and directed, the avenues of knowl- 
edge should be freely opened, and every facility afforded to their unrestrict- 
ed entrance. Ignorance should no more be countenanced than vice and 
crime. The one leads almost inevitably to the other. Banish ignorance, 
and in its stead introduce intelligence, science, knowledge and increasing 
wisdom and enlightenment, and you remove, in most cases, all those incen- 
tives to idleness, vice and crime, which now produce such a frightful har- 
vest of retribution, misery and wretchedness. Educate every child, ' to the 
top of his faculties,' and you not only secure the community against the 
depredations of the ignorant and the criminal, but you bestow upon it, in- 
stead, productive artisans, good citizens, upright jurors and magistrates, en- 
lightened statesmen, scientific discoverers and inventors, and the dispensers 
of a pervading influence in favor of honesty, virtue and true goodness. 
Educate every child physically, morally and intellectually, from the age of 
four to twenty-one, and many of your prisons, penitentiaries and alms-hous- 
es will be converted into schools of industry and temples of science, and 
the immense amount now contributed for their maintenance and support 
will be diverted into far more profitable channels. Educate every child — 
not superficially — not paitially — but thoroughly — develope equally and 
healthfully every faculty of his nature — every capability of his being — and 
you infuse a new and invigorating element into the very life blood of civili- 
zation — an element which will diffuse itself throughout every vein and arte- 
ry of the social and political system, purifying, strengthening and regenera- 
ting all its impulses, elevating its aspirations, and clothing it with a power 
equal to every demand upon its va.st energies and resources. 

" Tliese are some of the results which must follow in the train of a wisely 
matured and judiciously organized system of universal education. They 
are not imaginary, but sober inductions from well authenticated facts — de- 
liberate conclusions from established principles, sanctioned by the concur- 
rent testimony of experienced educators and eminent statesmen and phi- 
lanthropists. If names are needed to enforce th« lesson they teach, those 
of Washington, and Franklin, and Hamilton, and Jefferson and Clinton, with 
a long array of patriots and statesmen, may be cited. If facts are required 
to illustrate the connection between ignorance and crime, let the official re- 
turn of convictions in the several courts of the State for the last ten years 
be examined, and their instructive lessons be heeded. Out of nearly 28,000 
persons convicted of crime, but 128 had enjoyed the benefits of a good com- 
mon school education ; 414 only had what the returning officers characterize 
as a ' tolerable' share of learning ; and of the residue, about one-half only 
could either read or write. Let similar statistics be gathered from the 
wretched inmates of our poor house establishments, and similar results 
would undoubtedly be developed. Is it not, therefore, incomparably better, 
as a mere prudential question of political economy, to provide ample means 
for the education of the whole community, and to bring those means within 
the reach of every child, than to impose a much larger tax for the protection 
of that community against the depredations of the ignorant, the idle and 
the vicious, and for the support of the imbecile, the thoughtless and intem- 
perate ? 



84 

" Every consideration connected with the present and future welfare of 
the community — every dictate of an enlightened humanity — every impulse 
of an enlarged and comprehensive spirit of philanthropy, combine in favor 
of this gi-eat principle. Public sentiment has declared in its favor. The 
new States which, within the past few years, have been added to the Con- 
federacy, have adopted it as the basis of their system of public instruction; 
and the older States, as one by one they are reconstructing their fundamen- 
tal laws and constitutions, are engrafting the same principle upon their in- 
stitutions. Shall 'New York, in this noble enterprise of education, retrace 
her steps ? Shall she disappoint the high hopes and expectations she has 
excited, by receding from the advanced position she now occupies in the van 
of educational improvement ? Her past career, in all those elements which 
go to make up the essential wealth and greatness of a people, has been one 
of progress and uninterrupted expansion. Her far-seeing legislators and 
statesmen, uninfluenced by the skepticism of the timid, the ignorant and 
the faithless, and unawed by the denunciations of the hostile, prosecuted 
that great work of internal improvement which will forever illustrate the 
pride and glory of her political history. The rich results of the .experiment 
thus boldly ventm-ed upon have vindicated their wisdom. Is the develop- 
ment of the intellectual and moral resoui'ces of her millions of futm-e citi- 
zens an object of less interest, demanding a less devoted consecration of the 
energies of her people, and worthy of a less fu-m and uncompromising per- 
severance ? 

" Disregarding the feelings of the present hour, and looking only to the 
future, will the consciousness of having laid the foundation for the universal 
education of our people be a less pleasing subject of contemplation than 
that of having aided in replenishing the coffers of their wealth ? 

" In conclusion, the Superintendent cannot feel that he has fully met the 
responsibility devolved upon him by his official relations to the schools of 
the State, were he to fail in again urging upon the Legislatm'e the definite 
adoption of this beneficent measure. Let its details be so adjusted as to 
bear equally upon all, oppressively upon none. Let every discordant ele- 
ment of strife and passion be removed from the councils of the districts, let 
the necessary assessment for the great object in view be diffused over the 
vast aggregate of the wealth and property of the State. Then let teachers, 
worthy of the name, teachers intellectually and morally qualified for the 
discharge of their high and responsible duties, dispense the benefits and 
riches of education, equally and impartially, to the eight hundred thousand 
children who annually congi-egate within the district school room. 

" The childi-en of the rich and the poor, the high and the low, the native 
and the foreigner, will then participate alike in the inexhaustible treasures 
of intellect, they will commence their career upon a footing of equality, un- 
der the fostering guardianship of the State, and will gradually ripen into 
enlightened and useful citizens, prepared for all the varied duties of life, 
and for the full enjoyment of all the blessings incident to humanity." 

Numerous petitions were forwarded to the legislature from different sec- 
tions of the state, for the repeal or amendment of the act of 1849. On the 
6th day of Februaiy, Mr. T. H. Benedict, of Westchester, from the majority 
of the Assembly committee on colleges, academies and common schools, pre- 
sented an elaborate and able report, accompanied by a biU " to establish 
Free Schools throughout the State." This bill declared common schools 
free to every child between the ages of five and twenty -one years ; directed 
the levying of an annual state tax of $800,000 for their support, in addition 
to the funds already provided by the constitution ; and provided for any 
balance that might be necessary for the payment of teachers' wages by a 
poll tax to be levied by the trustees on the inhabitants of the respective 
districts. Mr. Burroughs, of Orleans from the minority of the committee, 
reported a bill entitled " An act in relation to Common Schools," directing 
the sum of $800,000 to be annually levied by a state tax, one-fom-th of 
the avails of which together with one-fom-th of aU other monies applicable 



"85 

to tlie support of common schools was directed to be equally divided among 
the several school districts, and the residue to be apportioned according to 
the number of children residing in each between the ages of five and twenty- 
one ; and any balance requisite to be raised by rate bill. 

After a protracted discussion of several weeks the bill entitled " An act 
TO ESTABLISH Free Schools THROUGHOUT THE State," was passcd by a vote 
of '72 to 21. By this act the several common schools of the state was de- 
clared free to all persons residing in the several districts over five and 
under twenty-one years of age, as thereinafter provided ; an annual state tax 
of $800,000 was directed to be levied for their support, one-third of which 
and of all other monies applicahle to the support of common schools, was 
directed to be equally divided among the several districts, and the residue 
to be apportioned according to the number of children between the ages 
of five and twenty-one ; and any balance required for the payment of teach- 
ers' wages, to be provided for by a rate-bill, exempting all indigent persons. 
All property exempt by law from levy and sale on execution was declared 
to be exempt from the operation of the collectors warrant, on such rate 
bills. On the 10th of April, this bill passed the Senate without amend- 
ment, by a vote of 22 to 4, and on the 12th of April, was signed by the 
Governor and became a law. 

Among those who by then* exertions and influence, contributed materially 
to the final establishment and recognition of the Free- School principle, and its 
incorporation as a fundamental portion of om- Common School System, we 
may be permitted without disparagement to others less pi'ominently connected 
with this important movement, to enumerate Governors Seward and Hunt, 
Superintendents Young, Benton and Morgan, James W. Beekman, Horace 
Greeley and Henry J. Raymond of New York; Thomas Leggett, Jr. of 
Queens ; Hon. Franklin Tuthill of Suffolk, A. W. Leggett, Caleb Roscoe 
and Theodore H. Benedict of Westchester : Alexander G. Johnson, Henry 
B. Haswell, John 0. Cole, Franklin Townsend, John V. L. Pruyn, Brad- 
ford R. Wood, Rev. Henry Mandeville, Friend Humphrey, J. N. T. Tucker, 
J. W. BuLKLEY and William F. Phelps of Albany, Gen. John E. Wool, Prof. 
Baerman and George M. Tibbitts of Rensselaer ; John Bowdish of Mont- 
gomery ; Halsey R. Wing of Warren ; William L. Crandall, editor of the 
Free School Clarion; Harvey Baldwin, Charles B. Sedgwick, Rev. Samuel 
J. May, E. W. Curtis, Benjamin Cowles, and the members of the Teachers 
Association of Onondaga ; O. B. Pierce, of Oneida ; Dr. John Miller, Samuel 
B. Woolworth and Lewis Kingsley of Cortland ; Alanson Holley of Wy- 
oming ; Gen. W. S. Hubbell and David McMaster of Steuben ; Caleb Lyon 
of Lewis ; Dr. H. D. Didama of Seneca; Salem Town of Cayuga ; Jabez D. 
Hammond of Otsego ; President Nott of Union College ; 0. G. Steele and 
Messrs Starr & Rice of Erie ; Silas M. Buroughs of Orleans ; 0. Archer 
of Wayne and Charles R. Coburn of Tioga. There were numerous other 
active and influential friends of education, in different sections of the state, 
whose services and exertions in behalf of this gi"eat measure, are none the 
less appreciated, although the limited space at our disposal does not permit 
us to give their names in this connection. 

GENERAL OUTLINES OF THE SYSTEM. 

The entire territory of the state, comprising, exclusively of the waters of 
the great lakes, an area of 45,658 square miles has been subdivided into 
about eleven thousand and four hundred school distiiets, averaging some- 
what more than four square miles each — seldom, in the rural districts, vary- 
ing materially from this average — and bringing the remotest inhabitants 
of the respective districts within a little more than one mile of the school 
house. 

Common schools in the several districts of the state are free to all resi- 
dents of the districts between the ages of four and twenty -one years, and non- 
residents of the district may be admitted into the school of any district 
with the written consent of the trustees. 



Every male person of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, residing 
in any school district, (including aliens entitled by law to hold real estate) 
who owns or hires real property in such district subject to taxation for 
school puposes, or who is a legal voter at town meetings, and is the owner 
of personal property liable to taxation in the district for school purposes, 
exceeding fifty dollars in value, beyond such as is exempt from execution, 
is entitled to vote at any school district meeting held in such disti'ict. 

An annual meeting of the inhabitants of each district entitled to vote 
therein, is to be held, after the first organization of the district, at the time 
and place designated at the first and at each subsequent meeting ; and 
special meetings are to be held whenever called by the trustees. 

When legally assembled in any district meeting, the inhabitants of each 
district, so entitled to vote, are authorized by a majority of the votes of those 
present, either by ballot or otherwise as they may determine, to choose 
three trustees, a disti'ict clerk, collector, and librarian. The trustees chosen 
at the first legal meeting of the district, are to be divided by lot into three 
. classes, and the term of office of the first is to be one year ; of the second, 
two, and of the third, three years ; and one trustee, only is thereafter an- 
nually to be elected, who holds his office for three years. The clerk, collec- 
tor and librararian are annually elected. In the event of a vacancy 
happening in the office of trustee, by death, refusal to serve, removal out 
of the district, or incapacity to act, such vacancy may be supplied by the 
district, and if more than a month is permitted to elapse, without filling it, 
the town Superintendent is authorized to appoint ; and the person so chosen 
or appointed holds only for the unexpired term of the office whose place he 
fills. A similar vacancy in the offices of clerk, collector, or librarian, is to 
be supplied by appointment of the trustees or a majority of them. The town 
Superintendent, on good cause shown, is authorized to accept the resigna- 
tion of any district officer. 

The inhabitants of the several districts, in district meeting assembled are 
also authorized to designate a site for a schoolhouse,or(with the consent of the 
town superintendent)for two or more school houses for the district,and to vote 
such an amount as they may deem sufficient to purchase or lease such a site 
or sites and to build hire or purchase a school house or houses, keep the same 
in suitable repair,and furnish them Avith the necessary fuel and appendages ; 
and may, in their discretion vote a tax not exceeding twenty dollai"s in any 
one year for the purchase of maps, globes, black-boards and other school 
apparatus. No tax, however, for building, hiring or purchasing a school 
house can exceed the sum of $400, unless the town Superintendent of the 
town in which such house is to be situated, shall certify that a larger 
sum, specifying the same, ought to be raised ; and when the site for the 
school house has once been fixed, it cannot be change, while the district 
remains unaltered, but by the written consent of the town Superintendent, 
and by the vote ayes and noes of a majority of the inhabitants of the district, 
at a special meeting called for that purpose. In this case the inhabitants may 
direct the sale of the former site or lot, together with the buildings and ap- 
pertenances on such terms as they may deem most advantageous to the 
district, and the trustees, or a majority of them are empowered to effect 
such sale and to execute the necessary conveyances. The proceeds are to 
be applied to the purchase of a new site, and to the removal, erection or 
pui-chase of new houses. 

The general administration of the affairs of the several districts, devolves 
principally upon the trustees, who have the custody of all the district prop- 
erty ; contract with, employ and pay the teachers ; assess all district taxes, 
following the valuations of the town assessor, so far as they afford a guide, 
and make out the necessary tax lists and warrants for their collection ; call 
the annual and special meetings of the inhabitants ; purchase or lease sites 
for the school house, as previously designated by the district, and build, hire 
or purchase, keep in repair and fm-nish such school house with necessary fuel 
and appendages, out of the funds provided by the district for that purpose ; 



87 

purchase suitable books for the district library, which is specially committed 
to their care, aad procure all such school apparatus as the district may di- 
rect ; and on the first of January in each year make their report of the 
condition of the district, in the form prescribed by law, to the Town Super- 
intendent. 

The productive capital of the Common School Fund is at 

this time, $2,243,563 86 

The capital of that portion of the U. S. Depoeite Fund, the 
interest of which is annually appropriated to the support 

of Common Schools, is .. 2,'750,00O 00 

To which may be added a sum that will annually produce 
an income of $25,000, reserved by the constitution to be 
added to the capital of the school fund, viz : 416,666 67 

Making an aggregate of $5,400,230 03 

The annual interest on this sum, at 6 per cent., is $324,000.00 ; of which 
$300,000 is annually appropriated to the support of Common Schools, inclu- 
ding $55,000 for the purchase of District Libraries and school appar- 
atus. 

The sum of eight hundred thousand dollars is annually required to be 
levied on the real and personal property of the State, and when collected to 
be paid over to the several County Treasurers, subject to the order of the 
State Supermtendent of Common Schools, who is to ascertain the propor- 
tion of such sum to be assessed and collected in each county, according to 
the valuation of real and personal estate therein, and to certify the same to 
the several County Clerks, to be laid before the boards of Supervisors, whose 
duty it is to levy such amount upon the County. On or before the first day 
of January in each year, the State Superintendent is required to apportion 
two-thirds of the amount so raised, together with all other monies appro- 
priated to the support of Common Schools among the several counties, cities 
and towns of the State, according to the population of such counties, cities 
and towns, and to divide the remaining third equally among the several 
districts. 

Under these provisions, the aggregate amount of public money annually 
apportioned by the State Superintendent, and raised upon the taxable prop- 
erty of the several counties, is $1,100,000.00 ; of which, $1,045,000 is appli- 
cable exclusively to the payment of teachers' wages, and the support of the 
school, and the remaining $55,000 to the pmxhase of school libraries and 
apparatus. 

In addition to this, the inhabitants of each town of the State are author- 
ized to raise an additional amouirt, equal to their share of the state fund, to 
be appropriated exclusively to the support of schools ; and many of the 
towns are in possession of local funds applicable to this object, derived 
from the sale of lands originally set apart in each township, by the State, 
for this purpose. 

Town superintendents are biennially elected by the inhabitants and legal 
voters of the several towns, at their annual meetings in March and April of 
each alternate year, and enter upon the execution of the duties devolved 
upon them, on the first Monday of November succeeding their election, 
holding for the term of two years thereafter. They are required to execute 
to the supervisor of their town a bond with sufiicient sm-eties, with a penalty 
in double the amount of all the school money received by the town, condi- 
tioned for the faithful application and legal disbursement of all the school 
money which may come into their hand dui'ing their term of ofiice, and for 
the faithful discharge of all their duties. They are authorized to form, 
regulate and alter the boundaries of school districts, when applied to for 
that purpose, or when in their judgment necessary and expedient, associat- 
ing with them the supervisor and town clerk of their town, whenever re- 
quested by the trustees of any district interested in any proposed alteration; 



88 

and it is their duty to apply for and receive from the county treasurer and 
town collector re8pectively,all school money apportioned or belonging to 
their town ; and on or before the first Tuesday in April of each year to 
apportion the same among the several districts of their town, according to 
the number of children between the ages of four and twenty-one, residing 
m each, as reported to them by the trustees, provided such districts have 
in all respects complied with the directions of law during the preceding 
year, and made the annual report required of them. 

No district, without the special permission of the state superintendent 
ca,a participate in such apportionment, which has not had a school taught 
■within it for at least six months during the year reported, by a duly quali- 
fied teacher ; which has not faithfully expended all its public money in 
the mode prescribed by law ; or in which a school has been taught for a 
period exceeding one month by an unqualified teacher. 

In making such apportionment, the town Superintendents designate the 
respective sums applicable to the payment of teachers, and to the purchase 
of libraries and school apparatus ; and hold the former subject to the 
order of the trustees, or of a majority of them, in favor of the teachers em- 
ployed by them and duly qualified according to law ; paying over the library 
money directly to the trustees. They are also to examine candidates for 
teachers and to grant certificates of qualification, which are valid for one 
year only, and may at any time be annulled by them, on notice to the teach- 
er holding such certificate ; and to visit and inspect the several schools of 
their town at least twice in each year, and oftener if they deem it neces- 
sary. On the first day of July of each year, they are to make and file with 
the county clerk, a report in the form prescribed by the State Superinten- 
dent and containing such information in reference to the condition of the 
schools in then- town, as he may from time to time direct. At the expira- 
tion of their term of office they are to account to their successors for all the 
school moneys received and disbursed by them, and to pay over any balance 
remaining in their hands. For their services they are entitled to receive 
$1,25 per day for every day actually devoted by them to the discharge of 
theii- official duties. 

At the seat of government, the State Formal School semi-annually 
receives under its instruction from two hundred to two hundred and fifty 
pupils of both sexes, selected by the Board of Town Superintendents of the 
respective counties, each county being entitled to two pupils for each 
mernber of Assembly. After spending from two to three years in the 
institution, the graduates return to their respective counties, and enter upon 
the active discharge of their duties as teachers ; communicating, as often 
as may be practicable, through the agency of the Teachers Institutes, in 
the spring and fall of each year, a general knowledge of the modes of 
teaching, government and discipline attained by them in the ISTormal School. 
These Institutes, under the supervision and general direction of the most 
experienced guides, enable every teacher to acquaint himself practically 
and familiarly with the duties devolving upon him, and secm-e to each one 
of the eleven thousand districts of our State, a faithful and efficient teacher. 

At the head of the whole system — controlling, regulating, and giving life 
and efficiency to all its pai-ts is the state Superintendent. He apportions 
the state tax of $800,000, and the public money among the several 
counties and towns, — distributes the laws, instructions, decisions, forms 
&c., through the agency of the town Superintendents to the several districts 
—has final jurisdiction on appeal, from all the acts and proceedings of the 
inhabitants of the several districts and their officers, as well as of Town 
Superintendents, keeps up a constant correspondence with the several officers 
connected with the administration of the system in all its parts, as well 
as with the inhabitants of districts seeking aid, counsel or advice; 
exercises a liberal discretionary power, on equitable principles, in all cases 
of inadvertent, unintentional, or accidental omissions to comply with the 
strict requisitions of the law ; grants state certificates of qualification to 



89 

such teachers as he deems worthy : reports annually to the legislature 
respecting the condition, prospects and resources of the Common Schools, 
and the management of the School fund, together with such suggestions for 
the iniprovemeut of the system as may occur to him ; and vigilantly watches 
over, encourages, sustains, and expands to its utmost practicable limit, the 
vast system of common school education throughout the state. 

Such is a condensed view of our present system of Common School 
Education ; — a system elaborated and matured to its present state, by the 
exertions of the highest minds among us, during a period of forty years ; a 
system comprehending the best and dearest interests present and prospect- 
ive of an enlightened and free people — full of promise for the future, and 
containing within itself, the germs of the most extended individual, 
social and national prosperity ; a system identified with the highest hopes 
and interests of all classes of the community, and from which are destined 
to flow those streams of intelligence and of public and private virtue 
which alone can enable us worthily to fulfil the noble destinies involved in 
our free institutions. 

But in this country, no systems, however perfect, no enactments, however 
enlightened, and no authority, however constituted, can attain to the full 
accomplishment of their object, however praiseworthy and laudable, without 
the hearty and efficient co-operation of public sentiment. Aided by this 
co-operation, the most important results may be anticipated from the most 
simple organization. The repeated and solemn recognition by the represen- 
tatives of the people, of the interests of popular education and public 
instruction ; the nearly unanimous adoption of a system, commended to the 
public favor as well by practical experience, as by the concurring testimony 
of the most enlightened minds of our own and other countries ; and the 
simplification of much of the complicated machinery which served only to 
encumber and impede the operation of that system ; these indications afford 
the most conclusive evidence not only of the importance which the 
great mass of our fellow citizens attach to the promotion of sound intellectual 
and moral instruction, but of their determination to place our common 
schools, where this instruction is chiefly dispensed to the children of the 
state, upon a footing which shall enable them most effectually to accomplish 
the great objects of their institution. 

It is upon the extent and permanency of this feeling, that the friends of 
education rely ; and this spirit to which they appeal, in looking forward to 
the just appreciation and judicious improvement of those means of moral and 
mental enlightenment which the beneficent policy of the state has placed at 
the disposal of the inhabitants of the several districts. The renovation of 
om" common schools, distributed as they are, over every section of our 
entire territory, their elevatioif and expansion to meet the constantly 
increasing requirements of science and mental progress, and their capability 
of laying broad and deep the foundations of character and usefulness, must 
depend upon the intelligent and fostering culture which they shall receive 
at the hands of those to whose immediate charge they are committed. 
There is no institution within the range of civilization, upon which so much, 
for good or for evil depends — upon which hang so many and such important 
issues to the future well being of individuals and communities, as the 
common district school. It is through that alembic that the lessons of the 
nursery and the family fire-side, the earliest instructions in pure morality, 
and the precepts and examples of the social circle are distilled ; and from 
it those lessons are destined to assume that tinge and hue which are perma- 
nently to be incorporated into the character and the life. Is it too much 
then, to ask or to expect of parents, that laying aside all minor considera- 
tions, abandoning all controversies and dissentions among themselves in 
reference to local, partisan and purely selfish objects, or postponing them at 
least, until the interests of their children are placed beyond the influence of 
these irritating topics, they will consecrate their undivided energies to the 
advancement and improvement of these beneficent institutions. Resting as 



90 

it does upon their support, indebted to them for all its means of usefulness, 
and dependent for its continued existence upon their discriminating favor 
and efficient sanction, the practical superiority of the existing system of 
public instruction, its comprehensiveness and simplicity — its abundant and 
unfailing resources — and its adaptation to the educational wants of every 
class of community, will prove of little avail without the invigorating 
influences of a sound and enlightened public sentiment, emanating from, 
and pervading the entire social system. The district school must become 
the central interest of the citizen and the parent, the clergyman, the lawyer, 
the physician, the merchant, the manufactm-er and the agriculturist. Each 
must realise that there, under more or less favoring auspices, as they them- 
selves shall determine, developments are in progi-ess which are destined, at 
no distant day to exert a controlling influence over the institutions, habits, 
modes of thought and action of society in all its complicated phases ; and 
that the primary responsibility for the results which may be thus worked 
out, for good or for evil, rests with them. By the removal of every obstacle 
to the progressive and harmonious action of the system of popular education, 
so carefully organized and amply endowed by the state, by a constant, and 
methodical and intelligent co-operation with its authorized agents, in the 
elevation and advancement of that system in all its parts, and especially by 
an infusion into its entire course of discipline and instruction of that high 
moral culture which can alone adequately realize the idea of sound educa- 
tion, results of inconceivable magnitude and importance to individual, social, 
and moral well being may confidently be anticipated. These results can only 
be attained by an enlightened appreciation and judicious cultivation of the 
means of elementary instruction. They demand and will amply repay the 
consecration of the highest intellectual and moral energies, the most compre- 
hensive benevolence, and the best affections of our common nature. 



91 



COMPARATIVE STATEMENT 

Of the condition of the Common Schools, from 1815, the period 
of the first Statistical Report, to 1850. 




May 1,1815 

" 1816 

« 1817 

" 1818 

« 1819 

Jan. 1,1820 

« 1821 

" 1822 

« 1823 

" 1824 

« 1825 

" 1826 

" 1827 
1828 

" 1829 

" 1830 

" 1831 

" 1832 

« 1833 

" 1834 

" 1835 

" 1836 

" 1837 

" 1838 

" 1839 

" 1840 

« 1841 

" 1842 

" 1843 

•' 1844 

* 1845 

" 1846 

" 1847 

« 1848 

" 1849 

" 1850 



2,755 

3,713 

3,264 

4,614 

5,763 

6,332 

6,659 

7,051 

7,382 

7,642 

7,773 

8,114 

8,298 

8,609 

8,872 

9,063 

9,339 

9,600 

9,690 

9,865 

10,132 

10,207 

10,345 

10,583 

10,706 

10,769 

10,886 

10,893 

10,875 

10,990 

11,018 

11,008 

11,052 

10,621 

11,191 

11,397 






2,631 
2,873 
3,228 
3,844 
5,118 
5,489 
5,882 
6,255 
6,705 
6,876 
7,117 
7,550 
7,806 
8,164 
8,292 
8,631 
8,841 
8,941 
9,107 
9,392 
9,676 
9,696 
9,718 
9,830 
10,127 
10,397 
10,588 



QJ ^ ?^ 

" 6D.9 






140,106 
170,385 
183,253 
210,316 
271,877 
304,559 
332,979 
351,173 
377,034 
402,940 
425,566 
431,601 
441,856 
468,205 
480,041 
499,424 
507,105 
494,595 
512,475 
531,240 
541,401 
532,167 
224,188 
528,913 
557,229 
572,995 
603,583 



10,645 598,749 
10,6561667,782 
10,357 709,156 
10,812 736,045 
10,796 742,423 
10,859 748,387 
10,4941475,723 
10,9281778,309 
11,1731794,506 



176,449 
198,440 
218,969 
235,871 
302,703 
317,633 
339,258 
357,029 
373,208 
383,500 
395,586 
411,256 
419,216 
449,113 
468,257 
497,503 
509,967 
508,878 
522,618 
534,002 
540,285 
538,398 
536,882 
539,747 
564,790 
592,564 
583,347 
601,765 
677,995 
696,548 
690,914 
703,399 
700,443 
718,123 
739,655 
735,188 



$48,376 

46,398 

54,799 

59,933 

59,968 

59,930 

79,957 

80,104 

80,000 

80,000 

80,000 

80,000 

80,000 

100,000 

100,000 1 

100,000j 

100,000 1 

100,000 

100,080 

100,080 

100,080 

100,000 

100,000 

110,000 

113,793 

*275,000 

*275,000 

*285,000 

*275,000 

275,000 

275,000 

275,000 

275,000 

275,826 

284,902 

285,000 






$55,720 98 
64,834 88 
73,235 42 
93,010 54 
117,151 07 
146,418 08 
157,195 04 
173,420 60 
180,820 25 
182,741 61 
182,790 09 
185,720 46 
222,995 77 
232,343 21 
[214,840 14 
238,640 36 
1244,998 85 
305,582 78 
307,733 08 
316,153 93 
312,181 20 
313,376 91 
335,895 10 
335,882 92 
374,411 61 
633,685 94 
658,954 70 
676,086 07 
660,727 41 
639,606 60 
725,066 19 
772,578 02 
829,802 83 
858,594 84 
846,710 45| 
767,389 20| 



2 
Oh9 



5297,048 44 
346,807 20 
374,001 54 
358,320 17 
369,696 36 
398,137 04 
419,878 69 
425,560 86 
436,346 46 
477,848 27 
521,477 49 
476,443 27 
483,479 54 
468,688 22 
509,376 97 
447,565 97 
458,127 78 
460,764 78 
462,840 44 
466,674 44 
489,696 63 
508,724 5e 



*Inclu<iing revenue from United States Deposit Fund. 



92 

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH FREE SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT 
THE STATE. 

Passed April 12, 1851. 
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

§ 1. Common schools in the several school districts in this State shall be 
free to all persons residing in the district, over five and under twenty-one 
years of age, as hereinafter provided. Persons not resident of a district 
may be admitted into the schools kept therein, -with the approbation, in -wri- 
ting, of the trustees thereof, or a majority of them. 

§ 2. There shall hereafter be raised by tax, in each and every year, upon 
the real and personal estate within this state, the sum of eight hundred thou- 
sand dollars, which shall be levied, assessed and collected in the mode pre- 
scribed by chapter thirteen, part first of the revised statutes, relating to the 
assessment and collection of taxes, and when collected shall be paid over to 
the respective county treasm-ers, subject to the order of the state superinten- 
dent of common schools. 

_ § 3. The state superintendent of common schools shall ascertain the por- 
tion of said sum of eight hundi-ed thousand dollars to be assessed and collect- 
ed in each of the several counties of this state, by dividing the said sum 
among the several counties, according to the valuation of real and personal 
estate therein, as it shall appear by the assessment of the year next prece- 
ding the one in which said sum is to be raised, and shall certify to the clerk 
of each coimty, before the tenth day of July in each year, the amount to be 
raised by tax in sucli county ; and it shall be the duty of the several coimty 
clerks of this state to deliver to the board of supervisors of their respective 
counties, a copy of such certificate, on the first day of their annual session, 
and the board of supervisors of each county shall assess such amount upon 
the real and personal estate of such county, in the manner provided by law 
for the assessment and collection of taxes. 

§ 4. The state superintendent of common schools shall, on or before the 
first day of January in every year, apportion and divide, or cause to be ap- 
portioned and divided, one thu-d of the sum so raised by general tax, and one 
third of all other moneys appropriated to the support of common schools, 
among the several school districts, parts of districts, and separate neighbor- 
hoods in this state, from which reports shall have been received in accordance 
with law in the following manner, viz : to each separate neighborhood be- 
longing to a school district in some adjoining state, there shall be apportioned 
and paid a sum of money equal to thirty-three cents for each child in such 
neighborhood (between the ages of four and twenty-one) ; but the sima so to 
be apportioned and paid to any such neighborhood, shall in no case exceed 
the sum of twenty-four doUai's, and the remainder of such one-third shall be 
apportioned and divided equally among the several districts ; and the state 
superintendent of common schools shall, by proper regulations and instruc- 
tions to be prescribed by him, provide for the payment of such moneys to the 
trustees of such separate neighborhoods and school districts. 

§ 5. It shall be the duty of the state superintendent of common schools, 
on or before the fii'st day of January in every year, to apportion and divide 
the remaining two-thirds of the said amount of eight hundred thousand dol- 
lars, together with the remaining two-thirds of all other moneys appropriated 
by the state for the support of common schools among the several counties, 
cities and towns of the state, in the mode now prescribed by law for the 
division and apportionment of the income of the common school fund ; and 
the share of the several towns and wards so apportioned and divided shall 
be paid over on and after the fii-st Tuesday in February, in each year, to the 
several town superintendents of common schools, and ward or city oificers, 
entitled by law to receive the same, and shall be apportioned by them among 
the several school districts and parts of districts in theh- several towns and 
wards, according to the number of children between the ages of four and 



93 

twenty-one years, residing in said districts and parts of districts, as the same 
shall have appeared from the last annual report of the trustees ; but no mon- 
eys shall be apportioned and paid to any district or part of a district, unless 
it shall appear from the last annual report of the trustees, that a school has 
been kept therein for at least six months during the year ending with the 
date of such report, by a duly qualified teacher, unless hj special permission 
of the state superintendent of common schools ; excepting, also, that the first 
apportionment of money under this act shall be made to all school districts 
which were entitled to an apportionment of public money in the year eighteen 
hundred and forty-nine. 

§ 6. Any balance required to be raised in any school district for the payment 
of teachers' wages, beyond the amoimt apportioned to such district by the 
previous provisions of this act, and other public moneys belonging to the dis- 
trict applicable to the payment of teachers' wages, shall be raised by rate-bill, 
to be made out by the trustees against those sending to school, in proportion 
to the number of days and of children sent, to be ascertained by the teach- 
er's list ; and in making out such rate-bill, it shall be the duty of the trustees 
to exempt, either wholly or in part, as they may deem expedient, such indi- 
gent inhabitants as may in their judgment be entitled to such exemption ; 
and the amoftnt of such exemption shall be added to the first tax list there- 
after to be made out by the trustees for district purposes, or shall be sepa- 
rately levied by them, as they shall deem most expedient. 

§ 7. The same property which is exempt by section twenty-two, of article 
two, title five, chapter six, part three of the revised statutes, from levy and 
sale under execution, shall be exempt from levy and sale under any warrant 
to collect any rate-bill for wages of teachers of common schools. 

§ 8. Nothing in this act shall be so construed as to repeal or alter the 
provisions of any special act relating to schools in any of the incorpora- 
ted cities or villages of this state, except so far as they are inconsistent 
with the provisions contained in the first, second, third and fourth sections of 
this act. 

§ 9. Chapter one hundred and forty of the session laws of one thousand 
eight hmidred and forty-nine, entitled " An act establishing free schools 
throughout the state," and chapter four hundred and four of the session laws 
of one thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, entitled " An act to amend an 
act establishing free schools throughout the state," and sections sixteen, seven- 
teen and eighteen of the revised statutes relating to common schools, requii-- 
ing the several boards of supervisors to raise bj' tax, on each of the towns of 
their respective counties, a sum equal to the school moneys apportioned to such 
towns, and providing for its collection and payment, and all other pro- 
visions of law incompatible with the provisions of this act are hereby re- 
pealed. 

§ 10. The state superintendent of common schools shall cause to be pre- 
pared, published and distributed among the several school districts and school 
officers of the state, a copy of the several acts now in force relating to com- 
mon schools, with such instructions, digest and expositions as he may deem 
expedient ; and the expense incurred by him therefor shall be audited by the 
comptroller and paid by the treasurer. 

§ 11. All the moneys received or appropriated by the provisions of this 
act shall be applied to the payment of teachers' wages exclusively. 

§ 12. It shall be the duty of the trustees of the several school districts in 
this state, to make out and transmit to the town superintendent of the town 
in which their respective school houses shall be located, on or before the first 
day of September next, a correct statement of the whole number of children 
residing in their district on the first day of August preceding the date of such 
report, between the ages of four and twenty-one ; and such town superintend- 
ent shall embody such statement in a tabular form, and transmit the saifie to 
the county clerk in sufficient season to enable the latter to incorpoi-ate the in- 
formation thus obtained in the annual report required by him to be made to the 
state superintendent of common schools for the present year. 



94 

§ 13. It shall also be tlie duty of the trustees of the several school dis- 
tricts, in theii' annual reports thereafter to be made, to specify the number of 
children, between the aforesaid ages, residing in their respective districts on 
the last day of December in each year, instead of the number of such chil- 
dren between the ages of five and sixteen. 

§ 14. This act shall take efiect on the first day of May next; but nothing 
herein contained shall be so construed as to affect provisions akeady made in 
the several school districts for the support of schools therein under existing 
laws for the current year. , 



PART II. 

STATUTES 

RELATING TO 

COMMON SCHOOLS, 



INCLUDING 



TITLE II. CHAPTER XV. PART I. REVISED STATUTES. 



[Pursuant to the directions of the 10th section of the act of 
chap. 151 of the laws of 1851, there are inserted in this publica- 
tion of the second title of chapter 15, all acts and parts of acts con- 
nected with the subjects of the said title, which are now in force ; 
and where the provisions of that title have been altered by subse- 
quent acts, such provisions have been varied in order to conform 
them to such alteration. The original number of each section is 
in all cases retained, whether it was a part of the Revised Statutes 
or was taken from some session law passed since 1828. In the 
latter case, there is a reference to a note at the foot of the pa^^e, 
which gives the particular chapter from which the section is taken, 
and its number is enclosed within brackets, in order to designate it 
more distinctly from the sections of the Revised Statutes, which are 
printed with the section mark only. 

To facilitate references to them, the sections in this edition are 
also numbered continuously from the first to the last, without re- 
gard to the statutes from which they are taken. The index at' the 
end refers to these numbers.] 

TITLE II. 

OF COMMON SCHOOLS. 

Abt. 1. — Of the powers and duties of the superintendent of com- 
mon schools, and of the apportionment of school 
moneys. 

Art. 2. — Of the distribution of the common school fund. 



96 

Art. 3. — Of the powers and duties of town superintendents of com- 
mon schools. 

Art. 4. — Of inspection and supervision by town superintend- 
ents. 

Art. 5. — Of the formation and alteration of school districts; the 
powers of school district inhabitants ; of the choice, 
duties and powers of school district officers ; the as- 
sessment and collection of school district taxes ; the an- 
nual reports of trustees ; school district libraries. 

Art. 6. — Of certain duties of the county clerk. 

Aet. 7. — Miscellaneous provisions. 

article first. 

Of the Powers and Duties of the Superintendent of Common 
Schools, and of the Apportionment of School Moneys. 

No. 1 — § 1. There shall continue to be a superintendent of 
common schools, whose duty, among other things, it shall be, to 
prepare and submit an annual report to the legislature contain- 
ing* 

1. A statement of the condition of the common schools of the 

state : 

2. Estimates and accounts of expenditures of the school moneys : 

3. Plans for the improvement and management of the common 
school fund, and for the better organization of the common schools ; 
and, 

4. All such matters relating to his office, and to the common 
schools, as he shall deem expedient to communicate. 

No. 2 — [§ 41.] The superintendent of common schools may 
designate and appoint any one of the clerks employed by him to 
be his general deputy, who may perform all the duties of the 
superintendent in case of his absence or a vacancy in his office. ' 

No. 3 — [§ 8.] The superintendent of common schools may 
appoint such and so many persons as he shall from time to time 
deem necessary, to visit and examine into the condition of the 
common schools in the county where such persons may reside, 
and report to the superintendent on all such matters relating to 
the condition of such schools, and the means of improving them, 
as he shall prescribe ; but no allowance or compensation shall be 
made to the said visitors for such services. ^ 

No. 4 — [§ 10.] The superintendent of common schools, on 
such evidence as may be satisfactor}'- to him, may grant certificates 
of qualification under his hand and seal of office, which shall be 
evidence that the holder of such certificate is well qualified in res- 
pect to moral character, learning and ability, to teach any district 
school within this state ; which certificate shall be valid until duly 
revoked by the superintendent. ^ 

(1.) Laws of 1841, chap. 260, § 41. (2.) Laws of 1839, chap. 330, §8. (3.) 
Laws of 1843, chap. 133, §10. 



JS^o. 5^[§ 7.] Copies of papers deposited or filed in the office 
^f the superintendent of common schools, and all acts and decisions 
by him, may be authenticated under the seal of the office of secre- 
tary of state, and when so authenticated shall be evidence equally, 
and in like manner as the originals. * 

JVo. 6 — [§2 & 3.] The superintendent shall apportion the school 
moneys to be annually distributed amongst the several counties 
of the state, and the share of each county, amongst its respective 
towns and cities. Such apportionment shall be made among 
the several towns and cities of the state, according to the ratio of 
their population respectively, as compared with the population of 
the whole state, according to the last preceding census. 

JVo. 7 — [§ 6.] When the census or returns, upon which an 
apportionment is to be made, shall be so far defective, in respect 
to any county, city or town, as to render it impracticable for the 
superintendent to ascertain the share of school moneys, which 
ought then to be apportioned to such county, city or town, he shall 
ascertain, by the best evidence in his power, the facts upon which 
the ratio of such apportionment shall depend, and shall make the 
apportionment accordingly. 

-A^o. 8 — [§ 2,] There shall hereafter be raised by tax, in each 
and every year, upon the real and personal estate within this state, 
the sum of eight hundred thousand dollars, which shall be levied, 
assessed and collected in the mode prescribed by chapter thirteen, 
part first, of the i-evised statutes, relating to the assessment and col- 
lection of taxes, and when collected shall be paid over to the re- 
spective county treasurers, subject to the order of the state super- 
intendent of common schools. ' 

No. 9 — [§ 3.] The state superintendent of common schools 
shall ascertain the portion of said sum of eight hundred thousand 
dollars to be assessed and collected in each of the several counties 
of this state, by dividing the said sum among the several counties, 
according to the valuation of real and personal estate therein, as it 
shall appear by the assessment of the year next preceding the one 
in which said sum is to be raised, and shall certify to the clerk of 
each county, before the tenth day of July in each year, the amount 
to be raised by tax in such county ; and it shall be the duty of the 
several county clerks of this state to deliver to the board of super- 
visors of their respective counties, a copy of such certificate, on the 
first day of their annual session^ and the board of supervisors of 
each county shall assess such amount upon the real and personal 
estate of such county, in the manner provided by law for the assess- 
ment and collection of taxes. ' 

No. 10 — [§ 4.] The State superintendent of common schools 
shall, on or before the first day of January in every year, appor- 
tion and divide, or cause to be apportioned and divided, one third 
of the sum so raised by general tax, and one third of all other 

(4.) Laws of 1839, chap. 380, § 7. (1.) Laws of 1851, chap. 151, § 1,2. 

7 



98 

monies appropriated to the support of common schools, among' the 
the several school districts, parts of districts and separate neigb- 
borhoods in this state, from which rt^ports shall have been received 
hi accordance with law, in the following manner, viz : to each 
separate neighborhood, belonging to a school district, in some ad- 
joining state, there shall be apportioned and paid a sum of money 
equal to thirty thi'ee cents for each child in such neighborhood, 
between the ages of four and twenty-one ; but the sum so to be 
apportioned and paid to any such neighborhood shall in no case 
exceed the sum of twenty-four dollars, and the remainder of such 
one-third shall be appoitioned and divided equally among the 
several districts ; and the state superintendent of common schools 
shall by proper regulations and instructions to be prescribed by 
him, provide for the payment of such monies to the trustees of 
such separate neighborhoods and school districts. ' 

JS^. 11 — [§ 5.] It shall be the dutj^ of the state superintendent 
of common schools, on or before the tirst day of January in every 
year, to apportion and divide the remaining two thirds of the said 
amount of eight hundred thousand dollars, together with the re- 
maining two-thirds of all other moneys appropriated by the state 
for the support of common schools, among the several counties, 
cities and towns of the state, in the mode now prescribed by law 
for the division and apportionment of the income of the common 
school funds ; and the share of the several towns and wards so ap- 
portioned and divided, shall be paid over on and after the first 
Tuesday of February in each year, to the several town superin- 
tendents of common schools, and ward or city officers, entitled 
by law to receive the same, and shall be apportioned by them 
among the several school districts and parts of districts in their 
several towns and wards, according to the number of children be- 
tween the ages of four and twenty-one years, residing in said 
districts and parts of districts, as the same shall have appeared 
from the last annual report of the trustees ; but no monies shall be 
apportioned and paid to any district or part of a district, unless it 
shall appear from the last annual reports of the trustees that a 
school has been kept therein for at least six months during the 
year ending with the date of such report, by a duh' qualified teach- 
er, unless by special permission of the state superintendent of com- 
mon schools ; excepting also that the first apportionment of money 
under this act shall be made to all school districts which were 
entitled to an apportionment of public money, in the year eighteen 
hundred and forty-nine. ^ 

^^0. 12 — [§!!•] All the monies received or appropriated by 
the provisions of this act shall be applied to the payment of teach- 
ers' wages exclusively. - 

No. 13 — [^7.] Whenever, in consequence of the division of a 
town, or the erection of a new^ town, in any county, the apportion- 



(1) Laws of 1851, chap. 151, § 3, 4. (2.) Laws of 1851, cliap. 151, § 11. 



99 

ment then in force shall become unjust, as between two or more 
of the towns of such county, the superintendent shall make a new 
apportionment of the school moneys next to be distributee! amongst 
such towns, ascertaining by the best evidence in his power, the 
facts upon which the ratio of apportionment as to such towns, sluill 
depend. 

No. 14 — [§8.] The superintendent shall certify each apportion- 
ment made by him, to the comptroller, and shall give immediate 
notice thereof, to the clerk of each county interested therein, and 
to the clerk of the city and county of New York ; stating the 
amount of moneys apportioned to his county, and to each town and 
city therein, and the time when the same will be payable to the 
treasurer of such county, or to the chamberlain of the city of New 
York. 

No. 15— [§3.] It shall be the duty of the clerk of the board of 
supervisors in each county in this state, on the last day of Decem- 
ber in each year, to transmit to the superintendent of common 
schools certified copies of all resolutions and proceedings of the 
board of supervisors, of which he is clerk, passed or had during the 
preceding year, relating to the raising* of any money for school 
or library purposes, and in case it shall not appear that the amount 
required by law to be raised for school and library purposes has 
been directed to be raised during the year by the board of super- 
visors of any county, the superintendent of common schools and the 
comptroller may direct that the money appropriated by the state 
and apportioned to such county, be withheld until the amount that 
may be deficient shall be raised, or that so much only of the money 
apportioned to such county be paid to the treasurer thereof, as 
shall be equal to the amount directed to be raised therein by the 
supervisors of such county ; and in such case the balance so with- 
held shall be added to the principal of the common school fund. 

No. 16 — [S^-] The superintendent shall prepare suitable forms 
and regulations for making all reports, and conducting all necessary 
proceedings under this Title, and shall cause the same, with such 
instructions as he shall deem necessary and proper, for the better 
organizations and government of common schools, to be transmitted 
to the oflicers required to execute the provisions of this Title 
throughout the state. 

No. 17 — [§1<^.] He shall cause so many copies of the first six 
Articles of this Title, with the forms, regulations and instructions 
prepared by him, thereto annexed, to be, from time to time, printed 
and distributed amongst the several school districts of the state, as 
he shall deem the public good to require. 

No. 18 — [§11-] AH moneys reasonably expended by him, in 
the execution of his duties, shall upon due proof, be allowed to him 
by the comptroller, and be paid out of the treasury. 

No. 19 — [^13.] Whenever any money is paid into the treasury 
of the State for or on account of the common school fund, it shall 
be the duty of the comptroller to credit the common school fund 



100 

with interest on the sum so paid in, at the rate of six per cent per 
annum, for the time the same shall remain in the Treasury. ^ 

ARTICLE SECOND. 

Of the distrihution of the Common School Fund, 

No. 20 — [§12.] The sum annually to be distributed for the en- 
couragement of common schools, shall be paid on the first day of 
February, in every year, on the warrant of the comptroller, to the 
treasurers of the several counties, and the chamberlain of the city 
of New York. 

No. 21 — [§13.] The treasurer of each county, and the chamber- 
lain of the city of New York, shall apply for and receive the school 
moneys apportioned to their respective counties, as soon as the same 
become payable. 

No. 22 — [§14.] Each treasurer receiving such moneys, shall 
give notice in writing, to the town superintendent or to some one 
or more of the commissioners of common schools of each town or 
city in his county, of the amount apportioned to such town or city, 
and shall hold the same subject to the order of such town superin- 
tendent or commissioners. 

No. 23 — [§15.] In case the commissioners or town superinten- 
dent of any such city or town shall not apply for and receive such 
moneys, or in case there ai'e no commissioners or town superin- 
tendent appointed in the same, before the next receipt of moneys 
apportioned to the county, the moneys so remaining with the treas- 
urer shall be retained by him, and be added to the moneys next 
received by him, for distribution from the superintendent of com- 
mon schools, and be distributed therewith, and in the same propor- 
tion. 

No. 24 — [§16.] Whenever the clerk of any county shall receive 
from the superintendent of common schools notice of the apportion- 
ment of moneys to be distributed in the county, he shall file the 
same in his office, and transmit a certified copy thereof to the county 
treasurer, and to the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county ; 
and the clerk of the board of supervisors shall lay such copy before 
the supervisors at their next meeting. 

Of the Election and Poioers of Town Superintendents. 

No. 25 — [§1.] There shall continue to be elected in each of the 
towns in this State, at the same time, and in the manner now pro- 
vided by law for the election of other town officers, an officer to be 
denominated " town superintendent of common schools," who shall 
possess all the powers, perform all the duties, and be subject to all 
the restrictions, liabilities and penalties conferred and imposed by 
this act. 2 

(1) Laws of 1849, chap. 382, § 13. 

(2) This and the following sections, except where altered by subsequent en- 
actments, were taken from the act chapter 480 of Laws of 1847. 



10* 

No. 26 — [§3.] The town superintendents of common schools 
hereafter to be elected in conformity with the provisions of this 
act, shall, each of them, on or before the first Monday of Novem- 
ber succeeding such election, execute to the supervisor of his town 
and file with the town clerk, a bond with one or more sufficient 
sureties to be approved by the said supervisor by endorsement over 
his signature on said bond, with a penalty in double the amount of 
all the school moneys received by his town from all sources during 
the preceding year and conditioned for the faithful application and 
legal disbursement of all the school money coming into his hands 
during his terra of office, and for the faithful discharge of all the 
duties of said office ; and in case such bond shall not be executed, 
filed and approved within the time herein prescribed, the office of 
such town superintendent shall be deemed vacant ; and any such, 
or any other vacancy that may occur in said office, shall be filled 
by any three justices of the peace of the same town by a warrant 
under their hands and seals, who are hereby authorized to make 
such appointments ; and the persons so appointed shall hold their 
respective offices until others are elected or appointed in their 
places, and shall have the same powers and be subject to the same 
duties and penalties as if they had been duly chosen by the elec- 
tors. 

No. 27 — [§4.] The justices making the said appointment shall 
forthwith cause the said warrant to be filed in the office of the 
town clerk of the town, and give immediate notice to the person 
appointed. 

No. 28 — [§•'>•] Every town superintendent elected after this act 
takes effect shall on executing the bond as before provided, enter 
upon the duties of his said office on the first Monday of November 
succeeding his election, and shall hold his office for two years there- 
after, and until a successor who shall have been duly elected, shall 
have taken the oath of office and filed an official bond pursuant to 
the provisions of this act. 

No. 29 — [§14,] Any person appointed to the office of town su- 
perintendent by the justices of the peace, shall hold his office till 
the first Monday of November following the next annual town 
meeting, and whenever the office of town superintendent shall be 
vacant for any cause, or before the time of the annual town meet- 
ing, shall be held by a person so appointed, the electors of the 
town at such town meeting shall choose a town superintendent to 
fijl such vacancy or to supercede such appointee; and the person 
80 elected shall enter upon the duties of the office on the first 
Monday of November following his election, and shall hold his 
office for the term of two years. 2 

No. 30 — [§6.] No town superintendent of a town shall hold the 
office of trustee of a school district, nor shall a person chosen % 

(2) Laws of 1849, Chap. 382, §14. 



W3 

trustee, hold the oflSfee of district clerk, and no town superintend- 
ent shall hold the office of either supervisor or town clerk. 

JVo. 31 — [§!•] The offiice of trustees of the Gospel and school 
lots in the several towns in this state, is hereby abolished ; and the 
powers and duties now by law conferred and imposed upon said 
trustees, shall hereafter be exercised by the town superintendent of 
common schools.' 

ARTICLE THIED. 

The powers and duties of the town superintendent of common 
schools. 

No. 33 — § 8. It shall be the duty of the town superintendent 
of common schools in each town, 

1. To divide the town into a convenient number of school 
districts, and to regulate and alter such districts as hereinafter pro- 
vided : 

2. To set off by itself any neighborhood in the town adjoining 
to any other state of this Union, where it has been usual or shall 
be found convenient for such neighborhood to send their children 
to school in such adjoining state : 

3. To describe and number the school districts, and to deliver 
the description and numbers thereof, in writing, to the town clerk, 
immediately after the formation or alteration thereof: 

4. To deliver to such town clerk a description of each neighbor- 
hood, adjoining to any other state, setoff by itself: 

5. To apply for and receive from the county treasurer all mon- 
eys apportioned for the use of common schools in his town : 

6. To apportion the school moneys received on the first Tuesday 
of April, in each year, among the several school districts, parts of 
districts and neighborhoods separately set off, within the town, in 
proportion to the number of children residing in each, over the age 
of four and under that of twenty -one years, as the same shall have 
appeared from the last annual report of their respective trus- 
tees. 

7. If the town superintendent shall have received the school 
moneys of the town, and all the reports from the several school 
districts therein, before the first Tuesday of April, he shall appor- 
tion such moneys as above directed, within ten days after receiving 
all of the said reports and the said moneys : 

8. To sue for and collect, by his name of office, all penalties 
and forfeitures imposed in this title, and in respect to which no 
other provision is made, which shall be incurred by any officer or 
inhabitant of his town, and after deducting his costs and expenses, 
to add the sums recovered to the school moneys received by him, 
to be apportioned and paid in the same manner. 

JVb. 34 — § 9. In making the apportionment of moneys among 

(1) Laws of 1846, Chap. 86, §1. 



103 

t^e several school districts, no share shall be allotted to any district, 
part of a district or separate neighborhood, from which no sufficient 
annual report shall have been received for the year ending on the 
last day of December immediately preceding the apportionment. 

No. 35 — [§10.] In making the apportionment of public money, 
it shall be duty of the town superintendent to designate the respec- 
tive proportions of teachers' and library money belonging to each 
district, and to pay over as much as is designated teachers' money, 
on the written order of a majority of the trustees of each district, 
to the teachers entitled to receive the same. 

iVb. 36 — [§11.] No moneys shall be apportioned and paid to 
any district or part of a district, except by special permission of 
the state superintendent of common schools, unless it shall appear 
by such report that a school had been kept therein for at least six 
months during the year ending at the date of such report, by a 
qualified teacher;' that no other than n duly qualified teacher had 
at any time during the year for more than one month been em- 
ployed to teach the school in said district ; and that all moneys re- 
ceived during that year have been applied to the payment of the 
compensation of such teacher ; and no portion of the library monej 
shall be apportioned or paid to any district or part of a district, un- 
less it shall appear from the last annual report of the trustees that 
the library money received at the last preceding apportionment 
was duly expended according to law, on or before the first day of 
October subsequent to such apportionment. 

No. 37 — [§11.] Every teacher shall be deemed a qualified 
teacher who shall hold a certificate dated within one year from the 
superintendent of common schools for the town in which such 
teacher shall be employed, or who shall have in possession a state or 
county certificate of qualification or a diploma from the state nor- 
mal school.2 

No. 38 — [§ 13.1 No part of such moneys shall be apportioned 
or paid to any separate neighborhood adjoining another state, un- 
less it shall appear from the report of its trustees that all moneys 
received by them during the year ending at the date of such report 
have been faithfully applied, in paying for the instruction of chil- 
dren residing in such neighborhood. 

No. 39 — [§ 14.] Whenever an apportionment of the public 
money shall not be made to any ichool district, in consequence of 
any accidental omission to make any report required by law, or t© 
comply with any other provision of law, or any regulation, the state 
superintendent may direct an apportionment to be made to such 
district, according to the equitable circumstances of the case, to be 
paid out of the public money on hand ; or if the same shall have 
been distributed, out of the public money to be received in a suc- 
ceeding year. 

No. 40— [§ 15,] If after the time when the annual reports 
are required to be dated, and before the apportionment of the school 

(1) Laws of 1851, chap. 151, § 5. (2) Laws of 1849, chap. 382, § 11. 



104 

moneys shall have been made, a district shall be duly altered, or a 
new district be formed in the town, so as to render an apportion- 
ment founded solely on the annual reports, unjust, as between two 
or more districts of the town, the town superintendent shall make 
an apportionment among such districts, according to the number of 
children in each, over the age of four, and under twenty-one years, 
ascertaining that number by the best evidence in his power. 

JVb. 41 — [§ 16.] The provisions of the foregoing section shall 
extend to all cases where a school district shall have been formed 
at such time previous to the first day of January, as not to have al- 
lowed a reasonable time to have kept a school therein for the term 
of six months, such district having been formed out of a district or 
districts in which a school shall have been kept for six mouths by 
a teacher duly qualified, during the year preceding tlie first day of 
January. 

jVo. 42 — [§ 17.] All moneys apportioned by the town super- 
intendent, to the trustees of a district, part of a district, or separate 
neighborhood, which shall have remained in the hands of the town 
superintendent for one year after such apportionment, by reason of 
the trustees neglecting or refusing to receive the same, shall be ad- 
ded to the moneys next thereafter to be apportioned by the town 
superintendent, and shall be Apportioned and paid therewith in the 
same manner. 

iVb. 43 — [§ 18.] In case any school moneys received by the 
town superintendent cannot be apportioned by him, for the term of 
two years, after the same are received, by reason of the non-com- 
pliance of all the school districts in his town with the provisions of 
this title, such moneys shall be returned by him to the county treas- 
urer, to be by him apportioned and distributed, together and in the 
same manner with the moneys next thereafter to be received by 
him for the use of common schools. 

iV^b. 44 — [§ 19.] It shall be the duty of the town superintend- 
ent in each town, between the first day of July and the first day of 
August in each year, to make and transmit to the county clerk a 
report in writing, bearing date on the first day of July, in the year 
of its transmission, and stating, 

1. The whole number of school districts and neighborhoods sep- 
arately set off within the town : 

2. The districts, parts of districts and neighborhoods from which 
reports shall have been made to him, or his immediate predecessor 
in office, within the time limited for that purpose : 

3. The length of time a school shall have been kept in each of 
guch districts or parts of districts, distinguishing what portion of 
that time the school shall have been kept by qualified teachers : 

4. The amount of public moneys received in each of such dis- 
tricts, parts of districts and neighborhoods : 

5. The number of children taught in each, and the number of 
children over the age of four and under twenty-one years, residing; 
m each : 



105 

6. The whole amount of moneys received by him, or his prede- 
cessor in office, during the year ending at the date of such report, 
and since the date of the last preceding report ; distinguishing the 
amount received from the county treasurer, and Irom any other 
and what source : 

7. The manner in which such moneys have been expended, and 
whether any, and what part remains unexpended, and for what 
cause : 

8. The amount of money paid for teachers' wages, in addition to 
the public money paid therefor, the amount of taxes levied for pur- 
chasing school-house sites, for building, hii'ing, purchasing, repair- 
ing and insuring school-houses, for fuel and supplying deficiencies 
in rate bills, for district libraries, or for any other purposes allowed 
by law, in the districts, parts of districts and neighborhoods from 
which reports shall have been received by him or his immediate 
predecessor in office, with such other information as the state sup- 
erintendent may from time to time require, in relation to the dis- 
tricts and schools within his town. 

No. 45 — [§ 20.] Town superintendents who neglect to furnish 
the information required by the last preceding section, shall sever- 
ally forfeit to the town for the use of the commom schools therein, 
the sum of ten dollars, to be sued for by the supervisor of the town. 

No. 46 — [§ 21.] In case the town superintendent in any town 
shall not, on or before the first day of August, in any year, make 
such report to the clerk of the county, it shall be his duty to give 
immediate notice of such neglect to the clerk of such town. 

No. 47 — [§ 22.] The town superintendent neglecting to make 
s«ch report within the limited period, shall forfeit to the town, for 
the use of the common schools therein, the sum of ten dollars ; and 
the share of school moneys apportioned to such town for the ensu- 
ing year, may, in the discretion of the state superintendent be with- 
held, and be distributed among the other towns in the same county, 
from which the necessary reports shall have been received. 

No. 48 — [§ 23.] When the share of school moneys apportion- 
ed to a town, shall thus be lost to the town, by the neglect of its 
town superintendent, the town superintendent guilty of such neg- 
lect, and his sureties shall be liable for the full amount so lost with 
interest. 

No. 49 — [§ 24.] It shall be the duty of the supervisor of the 
town, upon notice of such loss, from the state superintendent or 
county treasurer, to prosecute without delay, in the name of the 
town, for such forfeiture ; and the moneys recovered shall be dis- 
tributed and paid by such supervisor to the several districts, parts 
of districts, or separate neighborhoods of the town, in the same 
manner as it would have been the duty of the town superintendent 
to have distributed and paid them, if received from the county 
treasurer. 

No. 50 — [§ 25.] The town superintendent in each town, shall 
keep a just and true account of all school moneys received and 



10() 

expended by him during each year for which he shall have been 
chosen, and shall lay the same before the board of auditors of town 
accounts at the annual meeting of such board, in each year. 

No. 51 — [§26.] The town superintendent of common schools 
in each town shall, within fifteen days after the termination of his 
office, render to his successor in office, a just and true account, in 
writing, of all school moneys by him received, before the time of 
rendering such account, and of the manner in which the same shall 
have been appropriated and expended by him ; and the account- so 
rendered shall be delivered by such successor in office to the town 
clerk, to be filed and recorded in his office. 

No. 52 — [§ 27.] On rendering such account, if any balance 
shall be found remaining in the hands of the town superintendent, 
the same shall immediately be paid by him to his successor in 
office. 

]^o. 53 — [§ 28.] If such balance, or any part thereof, shall 
have been appropriated by the town superintendent to any parti- 
cular school district, part of a district or separate neighborhood, and 
shall remain in his hands for the use thereof, a statement of such 
appropriation shall be made in the account so to be rendered, and 
the balance paid to such successor in office, shall be paid over by 
him, according to such appropriation. 

iVo. 54 — [§ 29.] Such successor in office may bring a suit in 
his name of office for the recovery, with interest, of any unpaid bal- 
ance of school moneys, that shall appear to have been in the hands 
of any previous town superintendent on leaving his office, either by 
the accounts rendered by such town superintendent, or by other 
sufficient proof, and in case of the death of such town superintend^ 
ent, such suit may be brought against his representatives. 

iSfo. 55 — [§ 30.] The town superintendent in each town, shall 
have the powers and privileges of a corporation, so far as to ena- 
ble him to take and hold any property transferred to him, for the 
use common schools in such town. 

]^o. 56 — [§ 10.] Town superintendents are hereby authorised 
to administer oaths in all cases relating to school district affairs and 
controversies, but shall not be entitled to charge any fees there- 
for. > 

JVo, 57 — [g 31,] The town superintendent shall be entitled to 
receive one dollar and twenty-five cents per day for every day 
actually and necessarily devoted by him in his official capacity, to 
the service of the town for which he may be chosen, the same to 
be paid iu like manner as other town officers are paid. 

Of the duty of Town Olerks. 

2^0. 58— [§ 32.] It shall be the duty of the Town Clerk of 
each town, 

1. To receive and keep all reports made to the town superin- 
tendent from the trustees of school districts, and all the books anp 

(1) Laws of 1849, chap. 882, § 10. 



107 

papers belonging to the town superintendent, when required, and 
to file them in his office : ■>! 

2. To receive all his estimates and apportionments of school 
money, and to record the same in a book to be kept for thai pur- 
pose : 

3. To notify the town superintendent, upon receiving notice 
from the county clerk that he has not made his annual report, for 
the purpose of making such report. 

ARTICLE FOURTH. 

Of Inspection and Supervision hy Town Superintendents. 

No. 59 — [§ 33.] The town superintendent in each town shall 
be the inspector of common schools therein, and every town super- 
intendent, during his continuance in office, shall be deemed a qual- 
ified teacher.^ 

No. 60 — [§ 34.] It shall be his duty to examine all persons 
offering themselves as candidates for teaching common schools in 
such town. 

No. 61 — [§ 35.] In making such examination, it shall be the 
duty of the town superintendent to ascertain the qualification of the 
candidate, in respect to moral character, learning and ability. 

No. 62 — [§ 36 ] If he shall be satisfied in respect to the qual- 
ifications of the candidate, he shall deliver to the person so exam- 
ined, a certificate signed by him, in such form as shall be prescribed 
by the state superintendent. 

No. 63 — [§ 37.] The town superintendent may annul any- 
such certificate given by him or his predecessors in office, when he 
shall think proper, giving at least ten days' previous notice in wri- 
ting to the teacher holding it, and to the trustees of the district ia 
which he may be employed, of his intention to annul the same. 

No. 64 — [§ 38.] The town superintendent, whenever he sliall 
deem it necessary, may require a re-examination of all or any of 
the teachers in his town, for the purpose of ascertaining their qual- 
ifications to continue as such teachers. 

No. 65 — [§ 39.] The annulling of a certificate shall not dis- 
qualify the teacher to whom it was given, until a note in writing 
thereof, containing the name of the teacher, and the time when his 
certificate was annulled, shall be made by the town superintendent, 
and filed in the office of the town clerk. 

No. 66 — [§ 40.] When any school district shall be composed 
of parts of two or more towns, the town superintendent of the 
town in which the school house of such district may be situated, 
shall examine into and certify the qualifications of any teacher 
offiiring to teach in such district, in the same manner as is provi- 
ded by the preceding sections of this article, and may also in the 
same manner annul the certificate of such teacher ; and no school- 

(1) Laws of 1849, chap. 882, § 9. 



108 

house shall be erected so as to stand on the division lines of any 
two or more towns. 

No. 67 — [§ 41.] It shall be the duty of the town superinten- 
dent to visit all such common schools, within his town, as shall be 
organized according to law, at least twice a year, and oftener if he 
shall deem it necessary. 

No. 68 — [§ 42.] At such visitation, the town superintendent 
shall examine into the state and condition of such schools, both as 
respects the progress of the scholars in learning, and the good 
order of the schools ; and may give his advice and direction to the 
trustees and teachers of such schools as to the government thereof, 
and the course of studies to be pursued therein. 

ARTICLE FIFTH. 

Of the Formation and Alteration of School Districts. 

No. 69 — [§ 43.] In the erection or alteration of a school dis- 
trict, the trustees of any district to be affected thereby, may apply 
to the supervisor and town clerk to be associated with the town 
superintendent ; and their action shall be final unless duly appeal- 
ed from ; the compensation of the supervisor and town clerk when 
thus associated, shall be the same as that of the town superinten- 
dent. 

^0. 70 — [§ 44,] "Whenever it may become necessary or con- 
venient to form a district out of two or more adjoining towns, the 
town superintendent of each of such adjoinmg towns, or the major 
part of them, may form, regulate and alter such district. 

No. 71 — [§45.] No alteration of any school district, made 
■without the consent of the trustees thereof, shall take effect until 
three months after notice, in writing, shall be given by the town 
superintendent, to some one or more of such trustees ; nor shall 
any alteration or regulation of an organized school district be made 
to take effect between the first day of December in any one year, 
and the first day of May following. 

No. 72 — [§ 46.] If the town supeintendent in any town, shall 
require by notice in writing, the attendance of the town super- 
intendents of any other town or towns, at a joint meeting 
for the purpose of altering a school district formed from their 
respective towns, and a major part of the town superintendents 
notified shall refuse or neglect to attend, the town superintendents 
attending, by a majority of votes, may call a special district meet- 
ing of such district, for the purpose of deciding on such proposed 
alteration ; and the decision of such meeting shall be as valid as 
if made by the town superintendents of all the towns interested, 
but shall extend no further than to dissolve the district formed 
from such towns. 

jVb. 73 — [§ 50.] When two or more districts shall be consoli- 
dated into one, the new district shall succeed to all the rights of 
property possessed by the districts of which it shall be composed, 



109 

and when a district is annulled and portions thereof are annexed 
to other districts, the property of the district so annulled shall be 
sold by the town superintendent of the town in which the school 
house is located, at public auction to the highest bidder therefor, 
after at least five days public notice by notices posted in tliree or 
more public places in said town, one of which shall be within the 
district so annulled, and the proceeds of such sale shall be first 
applied so far as requisite, to the payment of any just debts due 
from the district so annulled, and the residue thereof shall be ' 
apportioned among the taxable inhabitants of the district so 
annulled in the ratio of their several assessments upon the lasfc 
corrected assessment roll of the town or towns within which such 
district is located J 

No. 74— [§ 52.] When there shall be any moneys in the bands 
of the officers, of a district that is or may be annulled, or belong- 
ing to such district, the town superintendent of the town may 
demand, sue for and recover the same, in his name of office, and 
shall apportion the same equitably between the districts to which 
the several portions of such annulled district may have been an- 
nexed, to be held and enjoyed as district property. 

No. 75 — -[§ 53.] Whenever a school district shall be dissolved 
by consolidation, or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the trustees 
of such district to make out all the necessary ratebills and tax-lists, 
and issue their warrants according to law, for the collection of all 
such sums of money as shall be necessary to discharge all legal 
liabilities of such district so dissolved or consolidated, and to call 
special meetings of the legal voters of such district, if it be neces- 
sary, to raise money by tax, to discharge such demands, and the 
collector to whom any such rate-bill or tax-list and warrant shall 
be delivered for collection, shall have power to execute the same 
in the same manner and with like authority as though such dis- 
trict had not been dissolved or consolidated. 

Of the poioers of school district inhabitants, and of the choice, 
duties and powers of school district officers. 

No. 76 — [§54.] Whenever any school district shall be formed 
in any town, it shall be the duty of the town superintendent, 
within twenty days thereafter, to prepare a notice in writing, 
describing such district, and appointing a time and place for the 
first district meeting, and to deliver such notice to a taxable inhab- 
itant of the district. 

No. 77 — [§ 55.] It shall be the duty of such inhabitant to notify 
every other inhabitant of the district, qualified to vote at district 
meetings, by reading the notice in the hearing of such inhabitant, 
or in case of his absence from home, by leaving a copy thereof, or 
of so much thereof as relates to the time and place of such meet- 
ing, at the place of his abode, at least six days before the time of 
the meeting, 

(I) Laws of 1849, Chap. 382, §2. 



110 

No. 78 — [§ 56.] In case such notice shall not be given, or the 
inhabitants of a district shall refuse or neglect to assemble, or 
form a district meeting, when so notified ; or in case any such dis- 
trict, having been formed and organized in pursuance of such 
notice, shall afterwards be dissolved, so that no competent author- 
ity shall exist therein, to call a special district meeting in the 
manner hereinafter provided ; such notice shall be renewed by 
the town superintendent, and served in the manner above pre- 
scribed. 

JSfo 79 — [§ 57.] Every taxable inhabitant to whom a notice 
t>f a district meeting shall have been properly delivered for service, 
who shall refuse or neglect to serve the notice in the manner above 
in this article enjoined, shall for every such offence forfeit the sum 
of five dollars. 

No. 80 — [§ 58.] Whenever any district meeting shall be called, 
in the manner prescribed in the preceding sections of this article, 
it shall be the duty of the inhabitants of the district, qualified to 
vote at district meetings, to assemble together at the time and place 
mentioned in the notice. 

No. 81 — [§ 59.] Every male person of full age, residing in 
any school district, and entitled to hold lands in this state, who 
owns or hires real property in such district subject to taxation for 
school purposes, and every resident of such district authorized to 
vote at town meetings of the town in which such district or part 
of district is situated, and who has paid any rate-bill for teachers' 
wages in such district, within one year preceding, or who owns 
any personal property liable to be taxed for school purposes in 
such districts, exceeding fifty dollars in value, exclusive of such 
as is exempt from execution, and no others, shall be entitled to 
vote at any school district meeting held in such district. 

No. 82 — [§ 60.] If any person offering to vote at any school 
district meeting, shall be challenged as unqualified by any legal 
voter in such district, the chairman presiding at such meeting shall 
require the person so offering, to make the following declaration: 
" I do declare and afiirra that I am an actual resident of this 
school district, and that I am qualified to vote at this meeting." 
And every person making such declaration shall be permitted to 
vote on all questions proposed at such meeting , but if any 
person shall refuse to make such declaration, his vote shall be 
rejected. 

No. 83 — [§ 61.] Every person who shall wilfully make a false 
declaration of his right to vote at a district meeting, Upon being 
challenged as herein before provided, shall be deemed guilty of a 
misdemeanor, and punishable by imprisonment in the county jail 
for a term not exceeding one year, nor less than six months, at the 
discretion of the court ; and any person voting at any school dis- 
trict meeting without being qualified, shall, on conviction, be subject 
to a fine of ten dcUars, to be sued for and recovered by the trus- 
tees of the district for its use, and with costs of suit, before any 
justice of the peace. 



Ill 

/ 

No. 84 — [§ 62.J The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when so 
assembled in such district meeting, or when lawfully assembled at 
any other district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of" the 
votes of those present : 

1. To appoint a chairman for the time being: 

2. To adjourn from time to time, as occasion may require : 

3. To chose a district clerk, three trustees, a district collector, 
and a librarian at their first meeting, and as often as such offices 
or either of them become vacated : 

4. To designate a site for a district school house : 

5. To lay such tax on the taxable inhabitants of the district, as 
the meeting shall deem sufficient to purchase or lease a suitable 
site for a school house, and to build, hire or purchase such school 
house, and to keep in repair and furnish the same with the necessary 
fuel and appendages : 

6. To alter, repeal and modify their proceedings from time to 
time as occasion may require : 

7. To vote a tax for the purchase of a book for the pur- 
pose of recording the proceedings in their respective districts : 

8. With the consent of the town supei'intendent of the town, to 
designate sites for two or more school houses, for such district, and 
lay a tax on the taxable property in such district, to purchase or 
lease such sites, and to hire, build or purchase such school houses, 
and to keep in repair, and furnish the same with necessary fuel 
and appendages, and may also in their discretion lay a tax, not 
exceeding twenty dollars in any one year, to purchase maps, globes, 
black-boards, and other school apparatus. 

No. 85 — [§ 63.] The trustees chosen at the first legal meeting 
of any school district, shall be divided by lot into three classes, to 
be numbered, one, two and three ; the term of office of the first 
class shall be one year, of the second, two, of the third, three ; 
and one trustee only shall thereafter annually be elected, who shall 
hold his office for three years, and until a successor shall be duly 
elected or appointed. In case of a vacancy in the office of either 
of the trusttttSj during the period for which he or they shall have 
been respectively elected, the person or persons chosen or appointed 
to such vacancy shall hold the office only for the unexpired 
term. 

No. 86 — [§ 64.] Every notice of a district meeting called in 
pursuance of this act shall state the purpose for which such 
meeting is called. 

No. 87 — [§. 65.] In each school district an annual meeting 
shall be held at the time and place previously appointed ; and 
at the first district meeting, and at each annual meeting, the 
time and place of holding the next annual meeting shall be 
fixed. 

No. 88 — [§ 66.] Whenever the time for holding annual meet- 
ings in a district for the election of district officers shall pass 
without such election being held, a special meeting shall be notified 



112 

by the clerk of such district to choose such officers ; and if no such 
notice be given by him or the trustees last elected or appointed, 
with twenty days after such time shall have passed, the town 
superintendent or town clerk may order any inhabitant of such 
district qualified to vote at district meetings, to notify such meeting 
in the manner provided by law in case of the formation of a new 
district ; and the ofiicers chosen at any such special meeting, 
shall hold their office until the time for holding the next annual 
meeting. 

No. 89— [§ 67.] When the clerk and all the trustees of a 
school district shall have removed or otherwise vacated their 
office, and where the records of a district shall have been de- 
stroyed or lost, or where trustees neglect or refuse to call meet- 
ings to choose trustees, the superintendent shall have authority 
to order such meetings, and the same shall be notified in the 
manner provided by law in the case of the formation of new 
districts. 

No. 90 — [§ 68.] When in consequence of the loss of the rec- 
ords of a school district, or the omission to designate the day for its 
annual meeting, there shall be none fixed, or it cannot be ascertained, 
the trustees, of such district may appoint a day for holding the 
annual meeting of such district. 

No. 91 — [§ 69.] A special meeting shall be held in each dis- 
trict whenever called by the trustees ; and the proceedings of no 
district meeting, annual or special, shall be held illegal for want of 
a due notice to all the persons qualified to vote thereat, unless it 
shall appear that the omission to give such notice was wilful and 
fraudulent. 

No. 92 — [§ 70.] No tax to be voted by a district meeting for 
building, hiring or purchasing a school house, shall exceed the sum 
of four hundred dollars, unless the town superintendent of the 
town in which the school house is to be situated, shall certify in 
writing his opinion that a larger sum ought to be raised, and shall 
specify the sura ; in which case, a sum not exceeding the sum so 
specified, shall be raised ; and in districts composed of parts of 
several towns, the certificate of a major part of the superintendents 
of said towns shall be necessary for such purpose. 

No. 93 — [§ 71.] Whenever a majority of all the taxable 
inhabitants of any school district, to be ascertained by taking and 
recording the ayes and noes of such inhabitants attending at any 
annual, special or adjourned school district meeting legally called 
or held, shall determine that the sum proposed and provided for in 
the next preceding section, shall be raised by instalments ; it shall 
be the duty of the trustees of such district, and they are hereby 
authorized to cause the same to be levied, raised and collected, in 
equal annual instalments, in the same manner, and with the like 
authority that other school district taxes are raised, levied and col- 
lected, and to make out their tax list and warrant, for the collec- 
tion of such instalments as they become payable according to the 



113 

vote of the said inhabitants ; but the payment or collection of the 
last instalment shall not be extended beyond five years from the 
time such vote was taken ; and no vote to levy any such tax shall 
be reconsidered except at an adjourned general or special meeting 
to be held within thirty days thereafter, and the same majority 
shall be required for reconsideration as is required to levy such tax. 

No. 94 — [§ 72.] In every case where a district embraces a 
part of more than one town, the town superintendents of the 
towns so in part embraced, upon application of the trustees of such 
districts, or of those persons liable to pay taxes upon real property 
therein, shall proceed to enquire and determine whether the valu- 
ation of real property upon the several assessment rolls of said 
towns are substantially just as compared with each other, so far as 
such district is concerned, and if determined not to be so, they 
shall determine the relative proportion of taxes that ought to be 
assessed upon the real property of the parts of such districts so 
lying in different towns, and the trustees of such district shall there- 
upon assess the proportion of any tax thereafter to be raised accor- 
ding to the determination of said superintendents until the same 
shall be altered by said superintendents upon like application, 
using the assessment rolls of the several towns to distribute the 
said proportion among the persons liable to be assessed for the 
same. In cases where two superintendents shall be unable to 
agree, they shall summon a superintendent from some adjoining 
town, who shall unite in such inquiry and determination. 

No. 95 — [§ 73.] Whenever a school house shall have been 
built or purchasW for a district, the site of such school house shall 
not be changed, nor the building thereon be removed, as long as 
the district shall remain unaltered, unless by the consent, in wri- 
ting, of the town superintendents of common schools, of the town 
or towns within which such districts shall be situated, stating that 
in their opinion such removal is necessary ; nor then, unless a ma- 
jority of all the taxable inhabitants of said district to be ascertain- 
ed by taking and recording the ayes and noes, at a special meet- 
ing, called for that purpose, shall be in favor of such new site. 

No. 96 — [§ 74.] Whenever the site of a school house shall 
have been changed as herein provided, the inhabitants of the dis- 
trict entitled to vote, lawfully assembled at any district meeting, 
shall have power by a majority of the votes of those present, to 
direct the sale of the former site or lot, and the buildings thereon, 
and appurtenances, or any part thereof, at such price, and upon 
such terms as they shall deem most advantageous to the district ; 
and any deed duly executed by the trustees of such district, or a 
majority of them, in pursuance of such direction, shall be valid 
and effectual to pass all the estate or interest of such school dis- 
trict in the premises intended to be conveyed thereby, to the gran- 
tee named in such deed ; and when a credit shall be directed to 
be given upon such sale, for the consideration money, or any part 
thereof, the trustees are hereby authorized to take in their corpo- 
8 



114 

rate name, such security by bond and mortgage, or otherwise, for 
the payment thereof, as they shall deem best, and shall hold the j- 
same as a corporation, and account therefor to their successors in * 
office and to the district, in the manner they are now required by 
law to account for moneys received by them ; and the trustees of 
any such district for the time being, may in their name of office, 
sue for and recover the moneys due and unpaid upon any security 
so taken by them, or their predecessors in office, with interest and 
cost. 

No. 97 — [§ 75.] All moneys arising from any sale made in 
pursuance of the last preceding section, shall be appropriated to the 
payment of the expenses incurred in procuring a new site, and in 
removing or erecting a school house; or either of them, so far as 
such application thereof shall be deemed necessary. 

No. 98 — [§ 77.] In case the office of trustee shall be vacated 
by the death, refusal to serve, removal out of the district, or inca- 
pacity of any such officer, and the vacancy shall not be supplied 
by a district meeting within one month thereafter, the town super- 
intendent of the town may appoint any person residing in such 
district to supply such vacancy. 

No. 99 — [§ 78.] In case of a vacancy in the office of school 
district clerk, collector or librarian, for any of the causes men- 
tioned in the next preceding section, such vacancy may be supplied 
by appointment under the hands of the trustees of the district or a 
majority of them, and the persons so appointed shall hold their 
respective offices until the next annual meeting of the district, and 
until others are elected in their places. 

No. 100 — [§ 79.] Every person duly chosen or appointed to 
any such office, who, without sufficient cause, shall refuse to serve 
therein, shall forfeit the sum of five dollars; and every person so 
chosen or appointed, and not having refused to accept, who shall 
neglect to perform the duties of his office, shall forfeit the sum of 
ten dollars. 

No. 101 — [§ 80.] Any person chosen or appointed to any 
such office, may resign the same by presenting his resignation to 
the town superintendent of the town, where such officer shall 
reside, who is authorised for sufficient cause shown to him, to 
accept the same, and the acceptance of such resignation shall be a 
bar to the recovery of either of the penalties mentioned in the 
preceding section. The town superintendent accepting the resig- 
nation shall give notice thereof to the clerk, or to one of the 
trustees of the school district, to which the officer resigning shall 
belong. 

No. 102— [§ 81.] It shall be the duty of the clerk of each 
school district, 

1. To record the proceedings of his district in a book to be pro- 
vided for that purpose by the district, and to enter therein true 
copies of all reports made by the trustees of his district, to the 
town superintendent. 



115 

2. To give notice of the time and place for special district meet-i 
ings, when the same shall be called by the trustees of the district, 
to each inhabitant of such district liable to pay taxes, at least five 
days before such meeting shall be held, in the manner prescribed 
in the fifty-fifth section of this act : 

3. To affix a notice in writing of the time and place for any 
adjourned district meeting, when the same shall be adjourned for a 
longer time than one month, in at least four of the most public 
places of such district, at least five days before the time appointed 
for such adjourned meeting : 

4. To give the like notice of every annual district meeting : 

5. To keep and preserve all records, books and papers, belong- 
ing to his office, and to deliver the same to his successor in office ; 
and in case ot his neglect or refusal so to do, he shall be subject to 
a fine of not exceeding fifty dollars. 

Of the duty of trustees of school districts. 

No. 103— [§ 82.] It shall be the duty of the trustees of every 
school district, and they shall have power, 

1. To call special meetings of the inhabitants of such districts 
liable to pay taxes, whenever they shall deem it necessary and 
proper : 

2. To give notice of special, annual and adjourned meetings 
in the manner prescribed in the last preceding section, if there 
be no clerk of the district, or he be absent or incapable of acting: 

3. To make out a tax list of every district tax, voted by any 
such meeting, containing the names of all the taxable inhabitants 
residing in the district at the time of making out the list, and 
the amount of tax payable by each inhabitant, set opposite to his 
name : 

4. To annex to such tax list a warrant, directed to the collec- 
tor of the districtjfor the collection of the sums in such list mentioned : 

5. To purchase or lease a site for the district school house, as 
designated by a meeting of the district, and to build, hire or pur- 
chase, keep in repair, and furnish such school house with necessary 
fuel and appendages, out of the funds collected and paid to them 
for such purposes : 

6. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the district school- 
house : 

7. To contract with and em[)loy all teachers in the districts : 

8. To pay the wages of such teachers when qualified, by giving 
them orders on the town superintendents for the public money be- 
longing to their districts, so far as such moneys shall be sufficient 
for that purpose ; and to collect the residue of such wages from all 
persons liable therefor;' 

9. To divide the public moneys received by them, whenever 
authorized by a vote of their district, into not exceeding two por- 
tions for each year ; to assign and apply one of such portions to 
each term during which a school shall be kept in such district, for 

(1) LawB of 1849, chap. 382, § 12 



116 

the payment of teacher's wages during such term ; and to collect 
the residue of such wages, not paid by the proportion of public 
money allotted for that purpose, from the persons liable therefor, as 
above provided : 

10. To exempt from the payment of the wages of teachers, 
either in part or wholly, such indigent persons within the district 
as they shall think proper, in any one quarter or term, and the 
same shall be a charge upon such district: 

11. To certify such exemptions and deliver the certificate 
thereof to the clerk of the district to be kept on file in his 
office: 

12. To ascertain by examination of the school lists kept by such 
teachers, the number of days for which each person not so exempt- 
ed, shall be liable to pay for instruction, and the amount payable 
by each person : 

13. To make out a rate-bill containg the name of each person 
so liable, and the amount for which he is liable ; and to annex 
thereto a warrant for the collection thereof: 

14. To deliver such rate-bill, with the warrant annexed, after 
the same shall have been made out and signed by them, to the col- 
lector of the district, who shall execute the same in like manner 
with other warrants directed by such trustees to such collector for 
the collection of district taxes, except as hereinafter provided ; and 

■ the collector to whom any such rate-bill and warrant shall be de- 
livered for collection, shall possess the same power, be entitled to 
the same fees, and subject to the same restrictions and liabilities 
with their bail and sureties, except as hereinafter provided, as by 
this title is provided in proceedings to collect school district taxes. ^ 

No. 104 — [g 9.] The trustees of any school district may expend 
in the repair of the school house a sum not exceeding ten dol- 
lars in any one year, and the same may be levied and collected by 
a separate tax, or added to any tax authorized to be levied and col- 
lected. 2 

No. 105 — [§ 84.] Where by reason of the inability to collect 
any tax or rate-bill, there shall be a deficiency in the amount rais- 
ed, the inhabitants of the district in district meeting shall direct 
the raising of a sufficient sum to supply such deficiency by tax, 
or the same shall be collected by rate-bill, as the case may require. 

No. 106 — [§ 6.] Any balance required to be raised in any 
school district for the payment of teachers' wages, beyond the 
amount apportioned to such district by the previous provisions of 
this act, and other public moneys belonging to the district, applica- 
ble to the payment of teachers' wages, shall be raised by rate-bill 
to be made out by the trustees, against those sending to school, in 
proportion to the number of days and of children sent, to be ascer- 
tained by the teachers' list ; and in making out such rate-bill, it 
shall be the duty of the trustees to exempt, either wholly or in partj 
as they may deem expedient, such indigent inhabitants as may, in 

(1) Laws of 1849, chap. 382, §6, as amended by chap. 151 laws of 1851, §7. 
£ (2) Laws of 1849, chap. 382, §9 



117 

their judgment, be entitled to such exemption, and the amount of 
such exemption shall be added to the first tax list thereafter to be 
made out by the trustees for district purposes, or shall be separate- 
ly levied by them as they shall deem most expedient. ' 

No. 107 — [§ 7.] The same property which is exempt by sec- 
tion twenty-two, of article two, title five, chapter six, part three, of 
the revised statutes, from levy and sale under execution, shall be 
exempt from levy and sale under any warrant to collect any rate- 
bill for wages of teachers of common schools. ^ 

Of the Assessment and Collection of District Taxes, 

No. 108 — [§ 85.] In making out a tax list the trustees of school 
districts shall apportion the same on all the taxable inhabitants of 
the district, or corporations holding property therein, according to 
the valuation of the taxable property which shall be owned or pos- 
sessed by them, at the time of making out such list within such dis- 
trict, or partly within such district and partly in an adjoining district, 
and upon all real estate lying within the boundaries of Such district , 
the owners of which shall be non-residents, and which shall be lia- 
ble to taxation for town or county purposes, and shall be situated 
■within three miles of the site of the school-house in such district. 
But when it shall be ascertained that the proportion of any tax 
upon any lot, tract or parcel not occupied by any inhabitant would 
not amount to fifty cents, the trustees in their discretion may omit 
such lot, tract or parcel from the tax list. 

No. 109 — [§ 86.] Any person working land under a contract for 
a share of the produce of such land, shall be deemed the possessor, 
so tar as to render him' liable to taxation therefor, in the district 
where such land is situate. 

iVb. 110 — [§87.] Every person owning or holding any real 
property within any school district, who shall improve and occupy 
the same by his agent or servant, shall, in respect to the liability 
of such property to taxation, be considered a taxable inhabitant 
of such district, in the same manner as if he actually resided 
therein. 

iVb, 111 — [§88.] Where any district tax for the purpose of 
purchasing a site for a school-house, or for purchasing or building, 
keeping in repair, or furnishing such school-house with necessary 
fuel and appendages, shall be lawfully assessed and paid by any 
person, on account of any real property, whereof he is only tenant 
at will, or for three years, or for a less period of time, such tenant 
may charge the owner of such real estate with the amount of the 
tax so paid by him, unless some agreement to the contrary shall 
have been made by such tenant. 

No. 112 — [§ 89.] When any real estate within a district, so lia- 
ble to taxation, shall not be occupied and improved by the owner, 
his servant or agent, and shall not be possessed by any tenant, the 
trustees of any district, at the time of making out any tax list by 
■which any tax shall be imposed thereon, shall make and insert in 

(1) Law8ofl851, chap. 151, §6-7. (2) Laws of 1751, chap. 161, §7. 



118 

8uch tax list, a statement and description of every such lot, piece 
or parcel of land so owned by non-residents therein, in the same 
manner as required by law from town assessors in making out the 
assessment roll of their towns ; and if any such lot is known to be- 
long to an incorporated company, liable to taxation in such district, 
the name of such company shall be specified, and the value of such 
lot or piece of land shall be set down opposite to such description, 
which value shall be the same that was affixed to such lot or piece 
of land in the last assessment roll of the town ; and if the same was 
not separately valued in such roll, then it shall be valued in propor- 
tion to the valuation which was affixed in the said assessment roll 
to the whole tract, of which such lot or piece shall be a part. 

No. 113 — [§90.] If any tax on the real estate of a non-resident 
mentioned in the tax list delivered to the collector shall be unpaid 
at the time he is required by law to return his warrant, he shall 
deliver to the trustees of such district an account of the taxes so 
remaining due, containing a description of the lots and pieces of 
land upon which any taxes were imposed as the same were stated 
in his tax list together with the amount of the tax assessed on 
each, and upon making oath before any justice of the peace or judge 
of any court of record that the taxes mentioned in such account 
remain unpaid, and that after diligent efforts he has been unable to 
collect the same, he shall be credited by said trustees with the 
amount thereof. 

No. 114 — [ 91.] "Whenever the trustees of any school district 
shall receive such an account of unpaid taxes from any collector, 
they shall compare the same vrith the original tax list, and if found 
to be a true transcript, they shall add to such account a certificate 
to the eflfect that they have compared the same with the original 
tax list and found it to be correct, and shall immediately transmit 
such account, with the affidavit of the collector, and their certificate 
to the treasurer of the county. 

No. 115 — [§ 92.] Out of any moneys in the county treasury, 
raised for contingent expenses, the county treasurer shall pay to 
the trustees of the school district in which such taxes were imposed, 
the amount thereof so returned as unpaid. 

No. 116 — [§93.] Such account, affidavit and certificate shall 
be laid, by the county treasurer, before the board of supervisors of 
the county, who shall cause the amount of such unpaid taxes, with 
seven per cent of the amount in addition thereto, to be levied upon 
the lands of non-residents on which the same were imposed, and if 
imposed upon the lands of any incorporated company, then upon 
such company, m the same manner that the contingent charges of 
the county are directed to be levied and collected, and when col- 
lected the same shall be returned to the county treasury to reim- 
burse the amount so advanced, with the expense of collection. 

iVb. 117 — [§94.] Any person whose lands are included in 
any such account may pay the tax assessed thereon to the county 
treasurer, at any time before the board of supervisors shall have 
directed the same to be levied. 



119 

No. 118 — [§95.] The same proceedings in all respects shall 
be had for the collection of the amount so directed to be raised by 
the board of supervisors as are provided by law in relation to 
county taxes ; and upon a similar account as in the case of county 
taxes of the arrears thereof uncollected, being transmitted by the 
county treasurer to the comptroller, the same shall be paid on his 
warrant to the treasurer of the county advancing the same ; and 
the amount so assumed by the state shall be collected for its benefit, 
in the manner prescribed by law in respect to the arrears of county 
taxes upon land of non-residents ; or if any part of the amount 
so assumed consisted of a tax upon any incorporated company the 
same proceedings may also be had for the collection thereof as 
provided by law, in respect to the county taxes assessed upon 
such company. 

No. 119 — [§ 96.] The valuations of taxable property shall be 
ascertained so far as possible, from the last assessment roll of the 
town ; and no person shall be entitled to any reduction in the valu- 
ation of such property, as so ascertained unless he shall give notice 
of his claim to such reduction, to the trustees of the district, before 
the tax list shall be made out. 

No. 120 — [§ 97.] In every case where such reduction shall 
be duly claimed, and in every case where the valuation of taxable 
property cannot be ascertained, from the last assessment roll of the 
town, the trustees shall ascertain the true value of the property to 
be taxed, from the best evidence in their power, giving notice to 
the persons interested, and proceeding in the same manner as the 
town assessors are required by law to proceed, in the valuations of 
taxable property. 

No. 121 — [§ 98.] Every taxable inhabitant of a district, who 
shall have been, within four years, set off from any otherdistrict 
without his consent, and shall, within that period have actually paid 
in such other district, under a lawful assessment therein, a district 
tax for building a school-house, shall be exempted by the trustees 
of the district where he shall reside, from the payment of any tax 
for building a school house therein. 

No. 122 — [§ 99.] Every district tax shall be assessed, and the 
tax list therefor be made out by the trustees, and a proper warrant 
attached thereto, within thirty days after the district meeting in 
which the tax shall have been voted. 

No. 123 — [§ 100.] It shall be the duty of the said trustees, 
after the expiration of the said thirty days, to deliver the said tax 
list and warrant to the collector of the district, and such collector 
is hereby authorised and directed, upon receiving his warrant, for 
two successive weeks, to receive such taxes as may be voluntarily 
paid to him ; and in case the whole amount shall not be so paid 
in, the collector shall proceed forthwith to collect the same. He 
shall receive for his services, on all sums paid in as aforesaid, one 
per cent, and upon all sums collected by him after the expiration 
of the time mentioned, five per cent ; and in case a levy and sale 



120 

shall be necessarily made by such collector, he shall be entitled to 
travelling fees at the rate of six cents per mile, to be computed 
from the school house in such district. ^ 

No. 124 — [§ 101.] If by the neglect of any collector, any 
school moneys shall be lost to any school district, which might have 
been collected within the time limited in the warrant delivered to 
him for their collection, he shall forfeit to such district the full 
amount of the moneys thus lost, and shall account for and pay over 
the same to the trustees of such district, in the same manner as if 
they had been collected. 

No. 125 — [§ 102.] For the recovery of all forfeitures, and of 
balances in the hands of a collector which he shall have neglected 
to pay over, the trustees of the district may sue in their name of 
ofl&ce, and shall be entitled to recover the same with interest and 
costs ; and the moneys recovered shall be applied by them in the 
same manner as if paid without suit. 

No. 126 — [§ 103.] Any collector to whom any such tax list 
and warrant may be delivered for collection, may execute the same 
in any other district or town in the same county, or in any other 
county, where the district is a joint district, and composed of terri- 
tory from adjoining counties, in the same manner, and with the 
like authority as in the district in which the trustees issuing the 
said warrant may reside, and for the benefit of which said tax is 
intended to be collected, and the bail or sureties of any collector 
given for the faithful pei'formance of his official duties, are hereby 
declared and made liable for any moneys received or collected on 
any such tax list and warrant, and may be prosecuted for the re- 
covery thereof. 

No. 127— [§ 104.] It shall be the duty of the trustees of school 
districts, to procure for the use of their district, two bound blank 
books from time to time, as shall be necessary, in one of which the 
accounts of all moneys received and paid by the trustees, and a 
statement of all moveable property belonging to the district, shall 
be entered at large, and signed by such trustees, at or before each 
annual meeting in such district. In the other of the said books, 
the teachers shall enter the names of the scholars attending school, 
and the number of days they shall have respectively attended, and 
also the days on which such school shall have been inspected by 
the town superintendent ; which entries shall be verified by the 
oath or affirmation of the teachers. The said books shall be pre- 
served by the trustees as the property of the district, and shall be 
delivered to their successors. 

No. 128 — [§ 105.] When the necessary fuel for the school of 
any district shall not be provided, by means of a tax on the inhab- 
itants of the district or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the trustees 
of the district to provide the necessary fuel, and levy a tax upon 
the inhabitants of the district to pay for the same.^ 

No. 129 — [§ 109.] When the trustees of any school district 
are require d or authorized by law, or by vote of their district, tO' 

(1) Laws of 1849, chap. 382, §6. (2) Laws of 1849, chap. 382, §7. ' 



121 

incur any expense for such district, and when any expenses incur- 
red by them are made by express provision of law a charge upon 
such district, they may raise the amount thereof by tax in the same 
manner as if the definite sum to be raised had been voted by a dis- 
trict meeting, and the same shall be collected and paid over in the 
same manner. 

No. 130 — [§ 110.] The warrant issued and annexed to any 
tax list or rate bill, shall be under the hands of the trustees of the 
district or a majority of them, and it shall not be necessary for the 
said trustees to affix their seals to any such warrant. 

No. 131 — [§ 111.] The warrants issued by the trustees of 
school districts for the collection of any district tax authorized to 
be levied, raised and collected by this title, or for the collection of 
any rate bill shall have the like force and effect, [except as herein 
before provided in respect to rate bills,] as warrants issued by 
boards of supervisors of counties to collectors of taxes in towns ; 
and the collector to whom any such warrant may be delivered for 
collection is hereby authorized and required to collect from every 
person in such tax list or rate bill named, the sum therein set op- 
posite to his name, or the amount due from any person or persons 
specified therein, in the same manner that collectors are authorized 
to collect town and county charges, [except as aforesaid.] 

No. 132 — [§112.] If the sum or sums of money, payable by 
any person named in such tax list or rate bill, shall not be paid 
by him, or collected by such warrant within the time therein limit- 
ed, it shall and may be lawful for the trustees to renew such warrant 
in respect to such delinquent person ; or in case such person shall 
not reside within their district, at the time of making out a tax list 
or rate bill, or shall not reside therein at the expiration of such 
warrant, and no goods or chattels can be found therein whereon to 
levy the same ; the trustees may sue for and recover the same, in 
their name of office. 

No. 133 — [§113.] Whenever the , trustees of any school dis- 
trict shall discover any error in a tax list or rate bill made out by 
them, they may with the approbation and consent of the state su- 
perintendent, after refunding any amount that may have been im- 
properly collected on such tax list or rate bill, if the same shall be 
required, amend and correct such tax list or rate bill, in conformity 
to law ; and whenever more than one renewal of a warrant for the 
collection of any tax list or rate bill, may become necessary in any 
district, the trustees may make such further renewal, with the 
written approbation of the town superintendent of the town in 
which the school house of said district shall be located, to be en- 
dorsed upon such warrant. 

No. 134 — [§ 114.] If the moneys apportioned to a district by 
the town superintendent shall not have been paid, it shall be tjie 
duty of the trustees thereof, to bring a suit for the recovery of the 
same, with interest, against the town superintendent in whose 
hands the same shall be, or to pursue such other remedy for the 
recovery thereof, as is or shall be given by law. 



122 

Of the annual reporta of trustees, their duties and liabilities. 

No. 135 — [§ 1 15.] The trustees of each school district shall, 
between the first and fifteenth days of January, in every year, 
make and transmit a report, in writing, to the town superintend- 
ent for such town, dated on the first day of January, in the year 
in which it shall be transmitted. 

No. 136 — [§116.] Every such report, signed and certified 
by a majority of the trustees making it, shall be delivered to the 
town superintendent, and shall specify, 

1. The whole time any school has been kept in their district 
during the year ending on the day previous to the date of such 
report, and distinguishing what portion of the time such school 
has been kept by qualified teachers : 

2. The amount of moneys received from the town superintend- 
ent during such year, and the manner in which such moneys have 
been expended : 

3. The number of children taught in the district during such 
year.i 

4. The number of children residing in the district on the last 
day of December previous to the making of such report, over the 
age of four years, and under twenty-one years of age, (except In- 
dian children otherwise provided for by law,) and the names of 
the parents or other persons with whom such children shall res- 
pectively reside, and the number of children residing with each :' 

5. The amount of money paid for teachers' wages, in addition 
to the public money paid therefor, the amount of taxes levied in 
said district for purchasing school-house sites, for building, hiring, 
purchasing, repairing and insuring school-houses, for fuel, for 
supplying deficiencies in rate bills, for district libraries, or for any 
other purpose allowed by law, and such other information in re- 
lation to the schools and the districts as the superintendent of 
common schools may from time to time require. 

No. 137 — [§ 117] It shall not be lawful for the trustees of any 
school district to include in their annual returns the names of any 
children who are supported at a county poor-house, or orphan 
asylum. 

No. 138 — [§ 118.] The annual reports of trustees of school 
districts, of children residing in their district, shall include all 
over four and under twenty-one years of age, who shall, ^t the 
date of such report, actually be in the district, composing a part 
of the family of their parents or guardians, or employers, if such 
parents, guardians, or employers reside at the time in such dis- 
trict, although such residence be temporary, but such report shall 
not include children belonging to the family of any person who 
shall be an inhabitant of any other district in this state, in which 
such children may be law be included in the reports of its trus- 
tees. 

(1) La-wa of 1849, chap. 382, § 8. 



133 

No. 139 — [§ 119.] The trustees of school districts shall not 
enumerate and include in their annual reports any Indian children 
residing on Indian reservations where schools are taught. 

iVo. 140 — [§ 120.] All children included in the reports of the 
trustees of any school district shall be entitled to attend the 
schools of such district ; and whenever it shall be necessary for 
the accommodation of the children in any district, the trustees 
thereof may hire, temporarily, any room or rooms for the keeping 
of schools therein, and the expense thereof shall be a charge up- 
on such district. 

No. 141 — [§ 121.] Where a school district is formed out of 
two or more adjoining towns, it shall be the duty of the trustees 
of such district to make and transmit a report to the town super- 
intendent for each of the towns out of which such district shall be 
formed, within the same time, and in the same manner, as is re- 
quired by sections one hundred and fifteen, and one hundred and 
sixteen of this act ; distinguishing the number of children over 
the age of four and under twenty-one years, residing in each part 
of a district which shall be in a different town from the other 
parts, and the number of children taught, and the amount of 
school moneys received from each part of the district. 

No. 142 — [§ 122.] Where any neighborhood shall be set off 
by itself, the inhabitants of such separate neighborhood shall an- 
nually meet together and chose one trustee ; whose duty it shall 
be every year, within the time limited for making district re- 
ports, to make and transmit a report in writing, bearing date on 
the first day of January, in the year in which it shall be transmit- 
ted, to the town superintendent of the town from which such 
neighborhood shall be set off, specifying the number of children 
over the age of four and under twenty-one years, residing in such 
neighborhood, the amount of moneys received from the town su- 
perintendent since the date of last report, and the manner in which 
the same has been expended, 

JSfo. 143 — [§ 123.] Every trustee of a school district, or sepa- 
rate neighborhood, who shall wilfully sign a false report to the 
town superintendent of his town, with the intent of causing such 
town superintendent to apportion and pay to his district or neigh- 
borhood, a larger sum than its just proportion of the school moneys 
of the town, shall for each offence, forfeit the sum of twenty-five 
dollars, and shall also be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. 

No. 144 — [§ 124.] All property now vested in the trustees 
of any school district, for the use of schools in the district, or 
which may be hereafter transferred to such trustees for that pur- 
pose, ehall be held by them as a corporation. 

JVo. 145 — [§125.] The trustees of each school district shall, 
once in each year render to the district, at its annual district 
meeting, a just and true account in writing, of all moneys re- 
ceived by them respectively for the use of their district; and of 



124 

the manner in which the same shall have been expended, which 
account shall be delivered to the district clerk, and be filed and 
recorded by him. 

No. 146 — [§ 126.] Any balance of such moneys, which shall 
appear from such account to remain in the hands of the trustees, 
or either of them, at the time of renaering the account, shall im- 
mediately be paid to some one or more of their successors in 
office. 

No. 147 — [§ 127.] Every trustee who shall refuse or neglect 
to render such account, or to pay over any balance so found in his 
hands, shall for each offence forfeit the sum of twenty-five dollars. 

JVo. 148 — [§ 128.] It shall be the duty of his successors in 
office to prosecute, without delay, in their name of office, for the 
recovery of such forfeiture ; and the moneys recovered shall be 
applied by them to the use and benefit of their district schools. 

No. 149 — [§ 129,] Such successors shall also have the same 
remedies for the recovery of any unpaid balance in the hands of 
a former trustee, or his representatives, as are given to the town 
superintendent againt a former town superintendent and his re- 
presentatives ; and the moneys recovered shall be applied by them 
to the use of their district, in the same manner as if they had been 
paid without suit. 

No. 150 — [§ 130.] Every trustee of a school district who 
shall, while in office, neglect or refuse annually to render an ac- 
count of the moneys received by him as such trustee, shall for 
each offence forfeit the sum of twenty-five dollars ; and it shall be 
the duty of the town superintendent of the town in which such 
trustee may reside, to prosecute, without delay, in his name of 
office, for the recovery of such forfeiture ; and the moneys recov- 
ered shall be applied by such superintendent to the use and bene- 
fit of the district school of the district to which such defaultii^ 
trustee shall belong. 

JVo. 151 — [§ 131.] Such town superintendent shall also have 
the same remedies for the recovery of any unpaid balance of 
moneys, in the hands of such delinquent trustee, in office, as are 
given to the town superintendents in office, against a former town 
superintendent ; and the moneys recovered shall be applied by 
such town superintendent to the use of the district to which the 
same may belong, and be paid over to the trustee or trustees of 
such district, who are not in default. 

No. 152 — [§ 132.] Any person coneeiving himself aggrieved 
in consequence of any decision made, 

1. By any school district meeting. 

2. By the town superintendent in the forming or altering, or m 
refusing to form or alter any school district, or in refusing to pay 
any school moneys to any such district : 

3. By the trustees of any district, in paying any teacher, or 
refusing to pay him, or in refusing to admit any scholar gratuitously 
into any school : 



4. Or concerning any other matter under the present title may 
appeal to the superintendent, who is hereby authorized and 
required to examine and decide the same, and the decision of the 
state superintendent shall be final and conclusive. 

Of school district libraries, 

No. 153— [§ 133.] The taxable inhabitants of each school 
district in the state, shall have power when lawfully assembled at 
any district meeting, to lay a tax on the district not exceeding ten 
dollars in any one year, for the purchase of a district library, 
consisting of such books as they shall in their district meeting 
direct, and such further sum as they may deem necessary for 
the purchase of a book case : The intention to propose such 
tax, shall be stated in the notice required to be given of such 
meeting. . 

No. 154 — [§ 135. The taxes authorized by the foregoing sec- 
tion to be raised, shall be assessed and collected in the same man- 
ner as a tax for building a school house. 

No. 15.5 — [§ 136.] The sura of fifty-five thousand dollars, di- 
rected to be distributed to the several school districts of this state, 
by the fourth section of chapter two hundred and thirty-seven of 
the laws of eighteen hundred and thirty-eight shall continue to be 
applied to the purchase of books for a district library, until other- 
wise directed ; but whenever the number of volumes in the district 
library of any district, numbering over fifty children between the 
ages of five and sixteen years, shall exceed one hundred and twen- 
ty-five ; or of any district numbering fifty children or less, between 
the said ages, shall exceed on hundred volumes, the inhabitants of 
the district qualified to vote therem, may, at a special or annual 
meeting duly notified for that purpose, by a majority of votes, ap- 
propriate the whole, or any part of the library money belonging to 
the district for the current year, to the purchase of maps, globes, 
black boards,or other scientific apparatus, for the use of the school : 
And in every district having the required number of volumes in 
the district library, and the maps, globes, black-boards, and other 
apparatus aforesaid, the said moneys, with the approbation of the 
state superintendent, may be applied to the payment of teach- 
ers' wages. 

No. 156 — [^ 137.] The trustees of every school district shall 
be trustees of the library of such district ; and the property of 
all books therein, and of the case and other appurtenances thereof 
shall be deemed to be vested in such trustees, so as to enable 
them to maintain any action in relation to the same: It shall be 
their duty to preserve such books and keep them in repair ; and 
the expenses incurred for that purpose, may be included in any 
tax list to be made out by them as trustees of a district, and ad- 
ded to any tax voted by a district meeting, and shall be collected 
and paid over in the same manner : The librarian of any district 



1^6 

library shall be subject to the directions of the trustees thereof, 
in all matters relating to the preservation of the books and appur- 
tenances of the library, and may be removed from office by them 
for wilful disobedience of such directions, or for any vv^ilful 
neglect of duty. 

JVo. 157— [§ 138.] Trustees of school districts shall be liable 
to their successors for any neglect or omission, in relation to the 
care and superintendence of district libraries, by w^hich any books 
therein are lost or injured, to the full amount of such loss or 
injury in an action on the case, to be brought by such success- 
ors in their name of office. 

No. 158 — [§ 139.] A set of general regulations respecting 
the preservation of school district libraries, the delivery of them 
by librarians and trustees to their successors in office, the use of 
them by the inhabitants of the district, the number of volumes to 
be taken by any one person at any one time or during any term, 
the periods of their return, the fines and penalties that may be 
imposed by the trustees of such libraries for not returning, for 
losing or destroying any of the books therein, or for soiling, de- 
facing, or injuring them, and the conditions upon which any 
school district may apply the library money to the payment of 
teachers' wages, may be framed by the state superintendent, and 
printed copies thereof shall be furnished to each school district 
of the state ; which regulations shall be obligatory upon all per- 
sons and officers having charge of such libraries, or using or pos- 
sessing any of the books thereof. Such fines may be recovered 
in an action of debt, in the name of the trustees of any such libra- 
ry, of the person on whom they are imposed, except such person 
be a minor ; in which case they may be recovered of the parent 
or guardian of such minor, unless notice in writing shall have been 
given by such parent or guardian to the trustees of such library, 
that they will not be responsible for any books delivered such mi- 
nor : And persons with whom such minors reside shall be liable 
in the same manner and to the same extent, in cases where the pa- 
rent of such minor does not reside in the district. 

No. 159 — [§ 140.] Any person conceiving himself aggrieved 
by any act or decision of any trustees of school districts, concern- 
ing district libraries, or the books therein, or the use of such 
books, or of any librarian, or of any district meeting in relation 
to their school library, may appeal to the state superintendent in 
the same manner as provided by law. 

No. 160 — [§ 141.] The legal voters in any two or more ad- 
joining districts may, in such cases as may be approved by the 
town superintendent, unite their library moneys and funds as they 
shall be received or collected, and purchase a joint library for the 
use of the inhabitants of such districts, which shall be selected by 
the trustees thereof, or by such persons as they shall designate, 
and shall be under the charge of a librarian to be appointed by 



127 

them ; and the foregoing provisions of this act shall be applicable 
to the said joint libraries, except that the property in them shall 
be deemed to be vested in all the trustees, fer the time being, of 
the districts so united. And in case any such district shall de- 
sire to divide such library, such division shall be made by the 
trustees of the two districts whose libraries are so united, and in 
case they cannot agree, then such division shall be made by the 
town superintendent. 

No. 101 — [§ 142.] Where, by reason of the non-compliance 
with the conditions prescribed by law, the library money shall be 
withheld from any school district, the same may be distributed 
among other districts complying with such conditions, or may be 
retained and paid subsequently to the district from which the 
same was withheld, as shall be directed by the state superintend- 
ent according to the circumstances of the case. 

No. 162 — [§ 143.] The state superintendent whenever re- 
quested by the trustees of a school district, under the directions 
of the legal voters of such district, may select a library for their 
use, and cause the same to be delivered to the clerk of the county 
in which such district is situated, at its expense. 

ARTICLE SIXTH. 

Of certain duties of the county clerks. 

Sec. 172. — County clerk to report to the superintendent of com- 
mon schools ; what, and when. 

Sec. 173. — Forfeiture for neglecting it. 

Sec, 174. — Who to prosecute for it, and where paid when recov- 
ered. 

Sec 175. — Duty of county clerk when commissioners [town su- 
perintendents] do not report. 

No. 163— § 172. [§ 112,] It shall be the duty of each county 
clerk, between the first day of August and the first day of October, 
in every year, to make and transmit to the superintendent of com- 
mon schools, a report in writing, containing the whole number of 
towns in his county, distinguishing the towns from which the ne- 
cessary reports have been made to him by the town superintend- 
ent of common schools, and containing abstracts of all such re- 
ports in such form as the state superintendent shall direct. 

No. 164— § 173. [§ 113.] Kvery clerk who shall refuse or 
neglect to make such report, within the period so limited, shall, 
for each offence, forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars to the use 
of the school fund of the state. 

No. 165 — § 174. [§ 114.] It shall be the duty of the superin- 
tendent of common schools to prosecute without delay, in his 
name of office, for such forfeiture, and to pay the moneys recov- 
ered, into the treasury of the state, to the credit of the school fund. 



128 

No, 166 — [§ 144.] It shall be the duty of each county clerk, 
immediately after the first day of August in every year, in case the 
town superintendent of any town in his county shall have neglect- 
ed to make to him his annual report, to give notice of such neglect 
to the clerk of the town, who shall immediately notify such town 
superintendent for the purpose of making his report.^ 

Miscellaneous provisions connected with the foregoing articles,. 

No. 167 — [§ 1.] Common schools in the several school dis- 
tricts in this state shall be free to all persons residing in the dis- 
trict over five and under twenty-one years of age, as herein [before] 
provided. Persons not resident of a district may be admitted in- 
to the schools kept therein, with the approbation in writing of the 
trustees thereof, or a majority of them. ^ 

No. 168 — [§145,] Town superintendents, trustees, collectors 
and clerks of school districts, refusing or wilfully neglecting to 
make any report, or to perform any other duty required by law, 
or by regulations or decisions made under the authority of any 
statute, shall severally forfeit to their town, or to their district as 
the case may be, for the use of the common schools therein, the 
sum of ten dollars for each such neglect or refusal, which penalty 
shall be sued for and collected by the supervisor of the town, and 
paid over to the proper officers to be distributed for the benefit of 
the common schools in the town or district to which such penalty 
belongs ; and when the share of school or library money appor- 
tioned to any town or district, or school, or any portions thereof, 
or any money to which a town or district would have been entitled, 
shall be lost in consequence of any wilful neglect of official duty 
by any town superintendent or trustees or clerks of school dis- 
tricts, the officers guilty of such neglect shall forfeit to the town 
or district the full amount, with interest, of the moneys so lost ; 
and they shall be jointly and severally liable for the payment of 
such forfeiture. 

No. 169 — [§ 146.] In any suit which shall hereafter be com- 
menced against town superintendents or officers of school districts , 
for any act performed by virtue of, or under color of their offices, 
or for any refusal or omission to perform any duty enjoined by law, 
and which might have been the subject of an appeal to the super- 
intendent, no costs shall be allowed to the plaintiff in cases where 
the court shall certify that it appeared on the trial of the cause 
that the defendants acted in good faith. But this provision shall 
not extend to suits for penalties, nor to suits or proceedings to en- 
force the decisions of the superintendent. 

No. 170 — [§ \.~\a Whenever a suit shall have been commen- 
ced or shall hereafter be commenced against the trustees of a 

(1) Laws of 184'7, cliap. 480, § 144. (2) Laws of 1851, chap. 151, § 1. 
(rt) Laws of J 847, chap. 172, § 1, 2, 3, 4. Laws of 1849, chap. 388. 



129 

school district in consequence of acts by them perfornud in pur- 
suance of and by the direction of such district, for any act per- 
formed by virtue of, or under color of their office, and such suit 
shall have been finally determined, or whenever, after the final 
determination of any suit commenced by or against any trustees or 
other ofiicers of a school district, a majority of the taxable inhab- 
itants of any school district shall so determine, it shall be the duty 
of the trustees to ascertain in the manner hereinafter described, 
the actual amount of all the costs, charges and expenses paid by 
such officer, and to cause the same to be assessed upon and col- 
lected of the taxable inhabitants of said district in the same man- 
Jier as other taxes of said district are by law assessed and collected, 
and when so collected, to pay the same over to the officer by 
virtue of this act entitled to receive the same ; but this provision 
shall not extend to suits for penalties, nor suits or proceedings to 
enforce the decisions of the superintendent. 

No. 171— [5j 2.] Whenever any person mentioned in the first 
section of this act shall have paid any costs, charges or expenses 
as mentioned in said first section, he shall make out an account 
of such charges, costs and expenses so paid by him, giving the 
Items thereof, and verify the same by his oath or affirmation ; he 
shall serve a copy of said account so sworn to, upon the trustees 
of the district against which such claim shall be made, together 
with a notice in writing that on a certain day therein specified, he 
will present such account to the board of supervisors of the county 
in which such school district shall be situated, for settlement at 
some legal meeting of such board ; and it shall be the duty of the 
officer upon whom such copy, account and notice shall be served, 
to attend at the time and place in such notice specified, to pro-' 
tect the rights and interests of mc\\ district upon such settle- 
ment. 

ISo. 172 — [g a.] Upon the appearance of the parties, or upon 
dueproof of service of the notice and copy of account mentioned 
in the second section of this act, if the said board shall be of opinion 
that such account or any portion thereof ought justly to be paid to 
the claimant, such board may by an order to be made by a majority 
of all the members elected to the same, and to be eitered in its 
minutes, require such account or such part thereof as such board 
shall be of opinion ought justly to be paid to the claimant, by 
such district to be so paid ; but no portion of such account shall 
be so ordered to be paid which shall appear to the said board to 
have arisen from the wilftij neglect or misconduct of the claimant. 
The account, with the oath of the party claiming the same, shall 
be prima facie evidence of the correctness thereof. The board 
may adjourn the hearing from time to time as justice shall seem 
to require. * 

No 173— [§ 4.] It shall be the duty of the trustees of any 
school district, within thirty days after service of a copv of such 
9 



m 

order upon them to cause the same to be entered at length in the 
book of records of said district, and to issue to the collector of 
said district a warrant for the collection of the amount so directed 
to be paid, in the same manner and with the like force and effect 
as upon a tax voted by said district. 

lio. 174 — [§ l.]b No person shall wilfully disturb, interrupt 
or disquiet any assemblage of persons met at any school district, 
with the assent of the trustees of the school district, for the pur- 
pose of receiving instruction in any of the branches of education 
usually taught in the common schools of this state, or in the 
science of music. 

No. 175 — [§ 2.] Whoever shall violate the provisions of the^ 
foregoing section, may be tried before any justice of the peace of 
the county, or any mayor, alderman, recorder, or other magistrate 
of any city where the offence shall be committed ; and upon con- 
viction, shall forfeit a sura not exceeding twenty-five dollars, for 
the use and benefit of the school district in which such offence 
shall be committed. 

iVb. 176 — [§ 3.] It shall be the duty of the trustees of any 
school district in which any such offence shall be committed, to 
prosecute such offender before any officer having cognizance of 
such offence. 

JVo. 177 — [§ 4.] If any person convicted of the offence here- 
in prohibited, shall not immediately pay the penalty incurred, 
with the costs of conviction, or give security, to the satisfaction of 
the officer before whom such conviction shall be had, for the pay- 
ment of the said penalty and costs within twenty days thereafter, 
he shall be committed by warrant to the common jail of the county, 
until the same be paid, or for such term, not exceeding thirty 
days, as shall be specified in such warrant. 

No. 178 — [§ 5.] It shall and may be lawful for any person 
who may be complained of for a violation of the provisions of this 
act, to demand of such magistrate that he may be tried by a jury. 
Upon such demand, it shall be the duty of such officer to issue a 
venire to the proper officer,commanding him to summon the same 
number of jurors, and in the same manner, and the said court 
shall proceed to empannel a jury for the trial of said cause, in the 
same manner and subject to all the rules and regulations prescrib- 
ed in the act providing for the trials by jury in courts of special 
sessions. 

No. 179 — [§ 147.] A school for colored children may be es- 
tablished in any city or town of this state, with theappr^ibation of the 
commissioners or town superintendent of such city or town, which 
shall be under the charge of the trustees of the district in which 
such school shall be kept ; and in places where no school dis- 
tricts exist, or where from any cause it may be expedient, such 

(6) Laws of 1845, chap. 228, § 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 



sf.hool may be placed in charge of trustees to be appointed by the 
commissioners or town superintvindent of common schools of the 
town or city, and if there be none, to be appointed by the state su- 
perintendent. Returns shall be made by the trustees of such 
school to the town superintendent at the same time and in the same 
manner as now provided by law in relation to districts ; and they 
shall particularly specify the number of colored children over four 
and under twenty-one years of age, attending such school from dif- 
ferent districts, naming such districts respectively, and the number 
from each. The town superintendent shall apportion and pay over to 
the trustees of such schools, a portion of the money received by them 
annually, in the same manner as now provided by law in respect 
to school districts, allowing to such schools the proper proportion 
for eacli child over four and under twenty-one years, who shall 
have been instructed in such school at least four months liy a 
teacher duly licensed, and shall deduct such proportion from the 
amount that would have been apportioned to the district to which 
such children belong ; and in his report to the state superintend- 
ent, the town superintendt;nt shall specially designate the schools 
for colored children in his town or city. 

No. 180 — [§ 15.] Whenever it shall be satisfactorily proven 
to the St .; superintendent that any county or town superintendent 
or other school officer, has embezzled the public money, or any 
money coming into his hands for school purposes, or has been 
guilty of the wilful violation of any law, or neglect of any duty, or 
of disobeying any decision, order or regulation of the department 
of common schools, the state superintendent is hereby authorized to 
remove such officer from such office, by an order under the seal of 
office of the secretary of state.' 

No. 181. — [§148.] The state superintendent may cause to be 
printed a sufficient number of forms of reports by trustees of school 
districts and town superintendents and of lists of pupils attending 
schools, and cause them to be transmitted to the several county 
clerks, for the use of those officers and of teachers of schools ; and 
he shall cause title second of chapter fifteen and part first of the 
Revised Statutes to be printed, and shall insert therein all acts and 
paris of acts which have been passed by the legislature, connected 
with the subjects of the said title, which are now in force ; and 
where any provisions of the said title have been altered by the 
subsequent acts, such provisions shall be varied so as to make 
them conformable to sue!; alterations; but the original numbers of 
the sections shall be indicated in such mode as he shall judge pro- 
per, except as herein amended or altered. Copies of the said title 
so amended shall be transmitted to (he town superintendent, and 
all other officers charged with the performance of any duty under 
its provisions, with such explanations and instructions as may be 
deemed expedient. 

(1) Chap. 38a, Laws of 1849, §15. 



132 

No. 182 — [§150.] All such provisions of law as are repugnant 
to or inconsistent with the provisions of this title, are hereby repeal- 
ed; but nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to 
impair or affect any of the local provisions respecting the organ- 
ization and management of schools in any of the incorporated 
cities or villages or towns of this state, except as the same are 
affected by the preceding sections of this act. 

Tow7i School Funds. 

The acts passed in 1789 for the sale of lands belonging to the 
people of this State, requii-ed the Surveyor General to reserve in 
eacla township, one lot for the support of the gospel, and one lot 
for the use of schools in such township. 

The following is a list of the principal reservations of this nature, 
viz : 

One lot of 550 acres, in each of the twenty-eight townships in 
the Military tract. 

Forty lots of 250 acres each, in each of the twenty townships 
west of the Unadilla river, being ten thousand acres. 

One lot of 640 acres each, in each of the townships of Fayette, 
Clinton, Greene, Warren, Chenango, Sidney and Hampden, then 
in the counties of 15roome and Chenango. 

Ten lots of 640 acres each, in the townslnps along the St. 
Lawrence. 

Sixteen lots of 640 acres each in Totten and Crossfield's pur- 
chase. 

In the township of Plattsburgh 400 aci*es were reserved for the 
use of a minister of the gospel, and 460 acres for the use of a pub- 
lic school or schools in the said township. 

In the township of Benson 640 acres were reserved for gospel 
and schools. 

By an act passed in 1798, in relation to gospel and school lots, 
it is provided " that the moneys arising from the leasing of the 
said lots of land as aforesaid, and from the trespasses aforesaid, 
shall be applied to the use of schools or support of the gospel, in 
the original townships, as surveyed, in which such lots shall be 
respectively situated, and for no other purpose ; which said ap- 
plication shall be made, either for schools or gospel or both, and 
in such way and manner as the freeholders and inhabitants of the 
towns in which the same lands shall lie, shall in legal town meet- 
ing, from time to time direct, order and appoint." 

By an act passed in 1808, the act of 1798 was extended to all 
the townships where lots of land are reserved for the support of gos- 
pel and schools, and the following provision was added : 

" § 1. Be it enacted, S^c, That the moneys arising from the an- 
nual rents and profits of the gospel lots in each township, shall be 
equally divided by the supervisor and commissioners appointed in 
each township, between the several religious societies legally or- 
ganized in such township, and that the money arising from the 



138 

annual rents and profits of the several school lots shall be distri- 
buted among the schools kept in each respective township, by 
teachers to be approved of by the supervisor and commissioners 
constituted by the act to which this is an amendment, or a m£yority 
of them in said township, in proportion to the aggregate number of 
days which the scholars in each respective school shall have res- 
pectively attended such schools in the year immediately preceding 
such division." 

The fourth section of an act concerning the gospel and school 
lots passed in 1813, is as follows : 

" And be it further enacted, That the rents, issues, and pi'ofits 
of the aforesaid lands, and the annual interest of the moneys arisino' 
from the sale thereof, shall be applied by the said trustees for the 
time being, to the support of the gospel and schools in their several 
towns in such manner, as the freeholders and inhabitants of the 
towns respectively, at their annual town meeting, shall order and 
direct, or as the legislature shall prescribe by law." Session Laws 
of 1813, p. 157. 

In 1819, an act was passed in relation to the gospel and school 
lots which contains the following section : 

"§ 2. And be it further enacted, That all moneys now due or 
hereafter to become due, and which shall have come into the hands 
of the aforesaid commissioners of public lots, and have not been 
applied and paid over to religious societies, shall be apportioned 
among the several school districts in the several towns of the afore- 
mentioned counties, [Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca] anything 
in the acts heretofore passed to the contrary notwithstanding." 

By section first of chapter 186, Laws of 1846, (No. 31 ante) 
" the office of trustees of the gospel and school lots in the several 
towns in this state is hereby abolished ; and the powers and duties 
now by law conferred and imposed upon said trustees, shall here- 
after be exercised by the town superintendent of common schools." 
By the provisions of chapter XV, Title IV, of Part I of the 
Revised Statutes, the trustees of the several Gospel and school 
lots were authorized and required, 

"1. To take and hold possession of the gospel and school lot 
of their town : 

" 2. To lease the same for such time not exceeding twenty-one 
years, and upon such conditions as they shall deem expedient : 

" 3. To sell the same with the advice and consent of the 
inhabitants of the town, in town meeting a8sembled,for such prices 
and upon such terms of credit aa shall appear to them most advan- 
tageous : 

" 4. To invest the proceeds of such sales in loans secured by 
bond and mortgage upon unincumbered real property of the value 
of double the amount loaned. 

" 5. To purchase property so mortgaged upon a fore-closure, 
and to hold and conveyjthe property ao purchased, whenever it shall 
become necessary. 



134 

" 6. To release the amount of such loans repaid to them, upon 
the like security. 

"7. To apply the rents and profits of such lots, and the inter- 
est of the money arising from the sale thereof, to the support of 
the gospel and schools, or either, as may be provided by law, in 
such manner as shall be thus provided. 

*' 8. To render a just and true account of the proceeds of the 
sales, and the interest on the loans thereof, and of the rents and 
profits of such gospel and school lots, and of the expenditure and 
appropriation thereof, on the last Tuesday next preceding the 
annual town meeting in each year, to the board of auditors of the 
accounts of other town officers. 

" 9. To deliver over to their successors in office, all books^ 
papers and securities relating to the same, at the expiration of 
their respective offices : and 

'' 10. To take therefor a receipt, which shall be filed in the 
clerk's office of the town. 

"§ 4. The board of auditors in each town shall annually report 
the state of the accounts of the trustees of the gospel and school 
lots in that town, to the inhabitants thereof, at their annual town 
meeting. 

*'§ 5. Whenever a town having lands assigned to it for the 
support of the gospel or of schools, shall be divided into two or 
more towns, or shall be altered in its limits by the annexing of a 
part of its territory to another town or towns, such lands shall be 
sold b}'- the trustees [town superintendent] of the town in which 
such lands were included immediately before such division or 
alteration ; and the proceds thereof shall be apportioned between 
the towns interested therein in the same manner as the other public 
moneys, of towns, so divided or altered, are apportioned. 

"§ 6. The shares of such moneys to which the towns shall be 
respectively entitled, shall be paid to the trustees of the gospel and 
school lots [Town Superintendents] of the respective towns, and 
shall thereafter be subject to the provisions of this Title. 

'* § 7. If in either of such towns, trustees of gospel and school 
lot* [Town Superintendents] shall not have been chosen, or there 
be none in oliice, the share of such town shall be paid to the 
supervisor." 

An Act relative to movei/s in the hands of Overseers of the Poor. 

Passed April 27, 1829. 

§ 1. It shaU be lawful for the inhabitants of any town, in such 
counties as have abolished the distinction between county and town 
paupers, and in such counties as may hereafter abolish such dis- 
tinction, at any annual or special town meeting, to appropriate all 
or any part of the monies and funds remaining in the hands of the 
overseers of the poor of such town, after such abolition, to such 
objects and for such purposes as shall be determined at such meet- 
ing. 



135 

§ 2. If any such meeting shall appropriate any such money or 
funds for the benefit of common schools in their town, the money so 
appropriated shall be denominated " the Common School Fund of 
iuch town," and shall be under the care and superintendence of the 
[Town Superintendent] of Common Schools of said town. 

§ 3. If any such meeting shall appropriate such money or 
funds for the benefit of common schools, after such appropriaticu 
shall have been made, and after the town superintendent of com- 
mon schools shall have taken the oath of office, the overseers of 
the poor of such towns shall then pay over and deliver to the said 
town superintendent such moneys, bonds, mortgages, notes and 
other securities remaining in their hands as such overseers of the 
poor, as will comport with the appropriation made for the benefit 
of common schools of their town. 

§ 4. The said town superintendents of common schools may sue 
for and collect, in their name of office, the money due or to be- 
come due on such bonds, mortgages, notes or other securities, and 
also all other securities by them taken under the provisions of this 
act. 

§ 5. The monies, bonds, mortgages, notes and other securities 
aforesaid shall continue and be a permanent fund, to be denomina- 
ted the common school fund of the town appropriating the same, 
the annual interest of which shall be applied to the support of 
common schools in such towns, unless the inhabitants of such town, 
in atmual town meeting, shall make a different disposition of the 
whole of the principal and interest, or any part thereof, for the 
benefit of the common schools of such town. 

§ 6. The said town superintendents of common schools when- 
ever the whole or any part of the principal of said fund shall come 
to their hands, shall loan the same on bond, secured by a mortgage 
on real estate of double the value of the monies so loaned, exclu- 
sive of buildings or artificial erections thereon. 

§ 7. The said town superintendents of common schools may 
purchase in the estate on which the fund shall have been secured, 
upon the foreclosure of any mortgage, and may hold and convey 
the same for the use of said fund. 

§ 8. The said town superintendents of common schools shall 
retain the interest of said common school fund, which shall be dis- 
tributed and appHed to the support of common schools of such 
town, in like manner as the public money for the support of com- 
mon schools shall be distributed by law 

§ 9. The said town superintendents of common schools shall 
account annually, in such manner and at such times as town ofllir 
cers are required by law to account, and shall deliver to their suc- 
cessors in office all moneys, books, securities and papers whatsoev- 
er relating to said fund, and shall take a receipt therefor, and fil« 
the same with the town clerk. 



13f5 

Lewiston School Fund. 
[LavTS of 1826, p. 239. 1 Rev. Stat. 614,] 

§ 1. The property now belonging to the Lewiston School Fund 
shall remain a continual fund, the interest of which shall be invio- 
lably appropriated to the support of common schools in the village 
of Lewiston, under the direction of the commissioners of the Lew- 
iston school fund for the time being. 

§ 2. The commissioners of the Lewiston school fund shall not 
exceed three in number, and shall hold their offices for two yeare, 
and until others shall be appointed. In case of vacancies in the 
office of such commissioners, the vacancies shall be filled and all 
appointments hereafter be made by the governor and senate, in the 
same manner that other appointments are made. 

§ 3. All such commissioners hereafter to be appointed, shall 
continue in office for two years and until others shall be appointed, 
unless in cases of appointment to fill vacancies, where the term 
shall expire with that of the other commissioners. 

§ 4. Every person hereafter appointed a commissioner of the 
Lewiston school fund shall, before he enters on the duties of his 
office, give to the trustees of the corporation of the village of Lew. 
iston, a bond in the penalty of fifteen thousand dollars, with two 
or more sureties, conditioned that he shall faithfully execute the du- 
ties of his office — which bond shall be deposited with the clerk of 
the said corporation. 

§ 5. The commissioners of the Lewiston school fund shall have 
power and it shall be their duty, 

1. To sell or lease the lots of land in the village of Lewiston, 
belonging to the said fund, on such terms as they may judge most 
conducive to the interests of the fund : 

2. To certify to the commissioners of the Land office, on receiv- 
ing payment for such sales, a description of the land sold, the price, 
the time when sold, the name of the purchasers, and that the con- 
aideration money and interest has been fully paid : 

3. To loan all moneys which may come to their hands, belong- 
ing to the fund : 

4. To take a bond on making such loans to themselves as such 
commissioners, secured by a mortgage on unincumbered real prop- 
erty, of at least double the value of the sum loaned, exclusive of 
buildings : 

5. To collect all bonds and mortgages or other debts due to the 
fund : 

6. To pay over to the trustees of common schools in the said 
Tillage, all moneys received by the commissioners for interest on 
loans or rent^ of lands belonging to said fund : 

7. To keep suitable books and accounts of all matters relating 
to the management of said fund, which shall be open to the inspec- 
ti on of the inhabitants of the village at all reasonable times : 
and — 



137 

8. To deliver, at the expiration of their several oflSces, to the 
remaining commissioners or their successors in office, all the books 
and papers relating to said fund. 

§ 6. Before the trustees of common schools in said village shall 
be entitled to receive such moneys from the commissioners, the 
trustees shall execute a bond to the supervisors of the town of Lew- 
iston, in such penalty and with such sureties as the supervisor shall 
approve, conditioned that the trustees shall faithfully apply such 
moneys towards the support of schools in the village of Lewiston, 
for the benefit of such of its inhabitants as shall have resided in 
the village at least six months ; and shall render a just aud true 
account of the expenditure of such moneys to the supervisor, 
when required. 

§ 7. It shall be the duty of the trustees of the corporation of 
the village of Lewiston, in case of any breach of the conditions of 
the bond given by such commissioners, and of the supervisor of the 
town of Lewiston, in case of any breach of the conditions of the 
bond given by the trustees of common schools for the village of 
Lewiston, to sue for and receive on said bonds all damages which 
may have accrued by such breaches for the use of said schools. 



PART III. 

INSTRUCTIONS, DIGEST & EXPOSITION 

OF THE 

GENERAL LAWS 

EKLATINQ TO 

COMMON SCHOOLS. 

WITH FORMS, &o., FOR THE USE OF SCHOOL OFFICERS. 



CHAPTER I. 

OF THE SCHOOL FUND AND STATE TAX, AND THEIR APPOR- 
TIONMENT AND DISTRIBUTION AMONG THE SEVERAL 
COUNTIES, CITIES AND TOWNS. 

Common Schools in the several school districts of this state 
are free to all- persons residing in the district, over four and under 
twenty-one years of age ; and all children enumerated in the an- 
nual reports of the trustees of the several districts are legally en- 
titled to attend the schools of such district. Children whose pa- 
rents or guardians are non-residents of the district in which they 
may desire to attend school, may be admitted into such school, with 
the approbation in writing of the trustees thereof, or of a majority 
of them. If any terms of admission are intended to be imposed, 
other than those common to resident children of the district, such 
terras must be distinctly specified at the time of such admission : 
otherwise it will be presumed that the non-resident children so ad- 
mitted are to share in all the privileges of the school with resident 
children of the district. 

The capital of the common school fund, consisting of the pro- 
ceeds of the sales of all lands belonging to the state, is, by the con- 
gtitution, to be " preserved inviolate," and its revenues to be appli- 
ed to the support of common schools. This fund amounted on the 
80th of September last, to S2,243,563.36 ; consisting of bonds for 
lands sold, and for loans, bank stock, state stock, &c., yielding an 



m 

annual revenue of about $135,000 for distribution among the sev- 
eral school districts. 

By chapter 237 of the Laws of 1838, the sum of $110,000 
was annually appropriated from the revenue of the United States 
Deposite Fund, together with an additional amount of $55,000 for 
the purchase of district libraries. The aggregate amount therefore 
to be annually apportioned and distributed from the common school 
fund is $300,000. The constitution also provides that "the sum 
of twenty-five thousand dollars of the revenues of the United 
States Deposite Fund shall each year be appropriated to and made 
a part of the capital of the said common school fund ;" and by 
§ 13 of chapter 382 of the laws of 1849, "whenever any money 
is paid into the treasury of the state for or on account of the com- 
mon school fund, it shall be the duty of the comptroller to credit 
the common school fund with interest on the sum so paid in, at the 
rate of six per cent, per annum, for the time the same shall remain 
in the treasury." 

By the " Act to establish Free Schools throughout the State," it 
is provided that there shall hereafter be raised by tax, in each and 
every year, upon the real and personal estate within this state, the 
sum of eight hundred thousand dollars, to be levied, assessed and 
collected in the mode prescribed by the revised statutes, relating 
to the assessment and collection of taxes, and when collected be 
paid over to the respective county treasurers, subject to the order 
of the state superintendent of common schools, who is required to 
ascertain the portion of said sum to be assessed and collected in 
each of the several counties of this state, by dividing the said sum 
among the several counties, according to the valuation of real and 
personal estate therein, as it shall appear by the assessment of the 
year next preceding the one in which said sura is to be raised, and 
to certify to the clerk of each county, before the tenth day of July 
in each year, the amount to be raised by tax in such county ; and 
it is made the duty of the several county clerks to deliver to the 
board of supervisors of their respective counties, a copy of such 
certificate, oa the first day of their annual session, and of the board 
of supervisors to assess such amount upon the real and personal 
estate of such county, in the manner provided by law for the as- 
sessment and collection of taxes. 

The state superintendent of common schools is required on or 
before the first day of January in every year, to apportion and 
divide, one-third of the sum so raised by general tax, and one- 
third of all other moneys appropriated to the support of common 
•chools, among the several school districts, parts of districts, and 
separate neighborhoods in this state, from which reports shall have 
been received in accordance with law, in the following manner, 
Tiz : to each separate neighborhood belonging to a school district 
in some adjoining state, a sura of money equal to thirty-three cents 
for each child in such neighborhood (between the ages of four and 
tWenty-one) ; but the sum so to be apportioned and paid to any 



140 

such neighborhood, is in no case, to exceed the sum of twenty -four 
dollars, and the remainder of such one-third is to be apportioned 
and divided equally among the several districts ; and the state 
superintendent of common schools is, by proper regulations and 
instructions to be prescribed by him, is to provide for the payment 
of such moneys to the trustees of such separate neighborhoods and 
school districts. It is also the duty of the state superintendent of 
common schools, on or before the first day of January, in every 
year, to apportion and divide the remaining two-thirds of the said 
amount of eight hundred thousand dollars, together with the re- 
maining two-thirds of all other moneys appropriated by the state 
for the support of common schools among the several counties, 
cities and towns of the state, in the mode now prescribed by law 
for the division and apportionment of the income of the common 
school fund ; and the share of the several towns and wards so ap- 
portioned and divided, is to be paid over, on and after the- first 
Tuesday iu February, in each year, to the several town superin- 
tendents of common schools, and ward or city officers, entitled by 
law to receive the same. 

When the census, or returns, upon which an apportionment is 
to be made, shall be so far defective, in respect to any county, city, 
or town, as to render it impracticable tor the superintendent to 
ascertain the share of school moneys, which ought then to be ap- 
portioned to such county, city, or town, he is required to ascer- 
tain, by the best evidence in his power, the facts upon which the 
ratio of such apportionment shall depend, and to make the ap- 
portionment accordingly ; and whenever, in consequence of the 
division of a town, or the erection of a new town, in any county, 
the apportionment then in force shall become unjust, as between 
two or more of the towns of such county, he is required to make 
a new apportionment of the school moneys next to be distributed 
amongst such towns, ascertaining by the best evidence in his 
power, the facts upon which the ratio of apportionment as to such 
towns, shall depend. He is also to certify each apportionment 
made by him, to the comptroller. 

Under these provisions the sum of $1,100,000 is annually to be 
apportioned by the state superintendent among the several counties, 
cities and towns, for the support of common schools ; of which the 
sum of $55,000 is to be applied to library purposes, and the residue 
exclusively to the payment of the wages of duly qualified teachers, 
in the mode prescribed by law. 

Treasurers of counties have no right to deduct from the amount 
of the school moneys apportioned to each town a commission of 
one per cent. They are unquestionably entitled to such a com- 
mission under § 26, 1 R. S. 370 on the moneys received 
and paid by them for the use of the common schools ; but 
they have no right to diminish the amount of the moneys 
placed in their hands for distribution, under an apportionment by 
the superintendent. Their commission is a charge upon the countj, 
»nd not upon the common school fund. — Com. School Dec, 379. 



141 

In addition to the funds thus provided by the general law, a 
large proportion of the towns are annually in the receipt of local 
funds, arising from the proceeds of the sales or leases of gospel and 
school lots belonging to such towns, reserved under an act passed 
in 1789, by the surveyor-general in the original allotment of town- 
ships ; from the appropriation of moneys remaining jn the hands of 
the overseer of the poor of towns in those counties'* in which the 
distinction between town and county paupers has been abolished, 
to the support oftlie schools, by a vote of the inhabitants at their 
annual town meeting; and in some instances from testamentary 
bequests and voluntary donations, for the benefit of common schools. 
In most of the cities of the state, too, as will be seen hereafter, 
large sums are directed by f'pecial acts to be raised for the support 
of the public schools. 



CHAPTER 11 



TOWN SUPEUINTKNDENTS OF COMMON SCHOOLS. 

By the first section of chap. 133, Laws of 1843, the offices of 
Commissioners and Inspectors of common schools were abolished • 
and by the first section of chap. 480, Laws of 1847, it is provided' 
that thtre shall hereafter be elected in each of the towns of this 
state, at the same time and in the same manner that otlier town of- 
ficers are chosen, an officer to be denominated " Town Superin- 
tendent of commo;] schools." It is his duty, on or before the 
first Monday of November after his election, to execute to Ihe su- 
pervisor of his town and file with the town clerk, a bond, with one 
or more sufficient sureties, to be approved of by said supervisor 
by endorsement over his signature on said bond, in the penalty of 
double the amount of school money which his town received from 
all sources during the year preceding that for which he shall have 
been elected, conditioned for the faithful application and legal dis- 
bursement of all the school money coming into his hands during 
his term of office, and for the taitiiful discharge of all the iluties 
of said office. In case such bond shall not be executed and filed 
within the time herein specified, the ofiice of sucli Town Superin- 
tendent is to be deemed vacant, and such or any other vacancy 
is to be filled by any three Justices of the Peace o*f' Wi^ same towrf 
by a warrant under their hands and seals ; and the persons so arw 
pointed are, (by the provisions of g 14, chap. 382, Laws of 1849 ) 
to hold their offices until the first Monday of November following 
the next annual town meeting. The justices making such appoiat- 
ment are to cause their warrant to be filed with tlie town clerk 
and to give immediate notice to the person appointed, ' 



142 

If there are less than three justices residing in the town ia 
which such vacancy occurs, the resident justice or justices may as- 
Bociate with themselves one or more justices from any adjoining 
town. 1 Rev. St. 398, § 56. 

Every town superintendent is required on the execution of his 
bond, as above* provided, to enter upon the duties of his office on 
the Jirst Monday of November succeeding his election, and is to 
hold his office for two years thereafter ; and whenever the office 
of town superintendent shall be vacant for any cause, or before the 
time of the annual town meeting, shall be held by a person ap- 
pointed by the Justices as above provided, the electors of the town 
at such town meeting are I'equired to choose a town superintend- 
ent to fill such vacancy or to supercede such appointee ; and the 
person so elected is to enter upon the duties of the office on the 
first Monday of November following his election, and to hold his 
office for the term of two years, 

In the interim between the town meeting and the first Monday 
of November following, the office is to be filled by appointment bj 
the Justices. 

Town superintendents are declared by law to be ineligible to 
the offices of Trustee of School District, Supervisor, or Town 
Clerk. 

The powers and duties formerly by law conferred upon the 
trustees of the Gospel and school lots in the several towns of the 
state, are, by the first section of chap. 186, Law:s of 1846, vested 
in and to be exercised by town superintendents. 

Town superintendents ai'e entitled to receive Si, 25 per day for 
every day actually and necessarily devoted by them, in their offi- 
cial capacity, to the service of the town in which they are elected, 
to be paid in like manner as oiher town officers are paid. 

Town superintendents are required, immediately after the com- 
mencement of their official term, to report their names and post of- 
fice address to the Department. 

The various powers and duties appertaining to the office of 
Town Superintendents, may be arranged under the following 
heads : 

1st. The formation and alteration of districts. 

2d. The apportionment and payment of public money. 

3d. The inspection and licensing of teachers, and the visitation 
and supervision of schools. 

4th. The making and transmission of their annual reports. 

5th. The collection of certain penalties and forfeitures. 

6th. Miscellaneous duties under various provisions of law. 

I. OF THE FORMATION AND ALTERATION OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

By the 43d section of the act of 1847, above referred to, it is 
provided that " in the erection or alteration of a school district, the 
trustees of any district to be affected thereby may apply to the su- 
pervisor and town clerk to be associated with the Town Superin- 



tendent ; and their action shall be final unless duly appealed from. 
The compensation of the supervisor and town clerk, when thusas- 
Bociated, shall be the same as that of the Town Superintendent." 
The various remarks under this head will therefore be applicable 
as well to the action of the town supervisor, superintendent and 
clerk, when associated together by virtue of this provision, as to 
that of the Town Superintendent alone; although for the sake of 
brevity and simplicity the latter only is referred to. 

It is proper, however, in this connection to advert to the general 
duties of the town clerk, in his capacity as clerk to the Town Su- 
perintendent, independently of the provision above cited. By the 
32d section of the school act (No. 00) he is required " to receive 
and keep all reports made to the Towri Superintendent from the 
trustees of school districts, laiid all the books and papers belonging 
to the Town Superintendent when required, and to file them in 
his office ; to receive all his estimates and apportionments of school 
money, and to record the same in a book to be kept for that pur- 
pose ; and to notify the Town Superintendent, upon receiving no- 
tice from the county clerk, that he has not made his annual report, 
for the purpose of making such report." 

Consent of Trustees, and Notice of Alteration. 

By the 45th section of the school act (No. 71) it is provided 
that " no alteration of any school district made without the consent 
of the trustees thereof, shall take effect until three months after 
notice in writing shall be given by the Town Superintendent, to 
some one or more of such trustees. Nor shall any alteration or 
regulation of an organized school district he made to take effect 
between the first day of December in any one year, and the first day 
of May following." 

As the principal portion of the inh;ibited territory of the state 
has already been sub-divided into school districts, every formation 
of a new district will, to a greater or less extent, involve some al- 
teration in districts previously existing. The consent of a majori- 
ty of the trustees, therefore, of each district affected by such alter- 
ation, or a written notice thereof, to some one of such trustees, is in 
all cases indispensable to the validity of the proceeding. In the 
absence of such consent, the order of the Town Superintendent is, 
to use a legal phrase, inchoate, or in abeyance, until the expiration 
of three months after service of the notice required by law ; and 
the districts to be affected by the proposed alteration remain, for 
all district purposes, in their original condition, the same as tliough 
no action whatever had been had. 

All alterations made between the first day of December in any 
year, and tlie first day of May ensuing, should specify on their 
face that they are to take effect on or after the first day of May,aud 
if after at what time. 

The law has not prescribed any specific time within which the 
notice of the alteration must bo given, where the consent of trus- 



144 

tees has been withheld ; but it is obviously proper that such notice 
should be given at the time of the alteration, or as soon thereafter 
as^may be practicable. A notice at any subsequent period would 
undoubtedly, however, be valid, and would amount to a republica- 
tion of the order of the Town Superintendent ; and at the expira- 
tion of three months from^ the service of such notice, the alteration 
would take effect. The consent of the trustees, when given, would 
appear from the record of the alteration, but in the absence of such 
proof, it may be established by other testimony. 

"Whenever any portion of the inhabitants or territory of one dis- 
trict is annexed to another existing district, the consent of a major- 
ity of the trustees of each district must be procured, or the notice 
required by law must be given. 

The consent of trustees to a proposed alteration in their district 
may be given either verbally or in writing ; and it has even been 
held that their joresence at the time of alteration, with full knowl- 
edge of the fact of such alteration, amounts, in the absence of any 
oljection on their part, to a consent. — Oom. School Dec. 59. 

Persons attached to a district without the consent of trustees, 
may be transferred to another district at any time prior to the ex- 
piration of three months, and such new transfer amounts to a virtu- 
al abandonment of the original order. 

The consent of trustees to an alteration in their district must in 
all cases have reference to the specific alteration proposed, and can 
not be general and unlimited. — Com, School Dec. 30. 

The provision requiring the consent of trustees to detach persons 
from their district, and holding them three months without such 
consent, was made for the benefit and protection of the trustees, to 
whose injury the alteration might operate. For instance, trustees 
might have made contracts and incurred responsibilities which 
would operate oppressively, if some of the most wealthy were de- 
tached before they had time to collect the tax. And to carry this 
intention into effect, the act should be benignly and favorably con- 
strued for the protection of the trustees. — Id. 

When the supervisor and town clerk are associated with the 
Town Superintendent in the formation or alteration of any dis- 
trict, a majority of the Board may make the requisite order. 

Notice for the organisation of a new District, 

Whenever any school district is formed in any town, it is the 
duty of the Town Superintendent, within twenty days thereafter, 
to prepare a notice in v/riting, describing such district, and appoint- 
ing a time and place for the first district meeting, and to deliver 
such notice to a taxable inhabitant of the district, who is bound to 
notify every other inhabitant of the district, qualified to vote at 
district meetings, by reading the notice in the hearing of each such 
inhabitant, or in case of his absence from home, by leaving a copy 
thereof, or of so much thereof as relates to the time and place of 
such meeting, at the place of his abode, at least six days before the 



tirae of the meeting. In case such notice shall not be given, or 
the inhabitants of a district shall refuse or neglect to assemble 
or form a district meeting, when so notified ; or in case any 
such district, having been formed and organized in pursuance 
of such notice, shall afterwards be dissolved, so that no competent 
authority shall exist therein, to call a special district meeting in 
the manner hereinafter provided ; such notice must be renewed by 
the Town Superintendent, and served in the manner above 
described.— 54— 56. (Nos. 76—78.) 

Tlie notice here required to be served on each voter in the dis- 
trict by the inhabitant to whom the Town Superintendent delivers 
the notice prepared by him, need not contain the description of the 
district referred to in the 54ih section. It is sutficient if it specify 
the time, place, and general object of the meeting. " It is neces- 
sary for the person notifying the inhabitants to have the district 
described, that he may know whom to notify. The inhabitant 
notified has no necessity for knowing who else is notified. The 
notice is to him as an individual. The same section defines the 
extent of this notice to individuals by saymg, when the person is 
absent from home, he is to be warned by leaving at his place of 
abode a copy of the notice, or of so much thereof as relates to the 
time and place of meeting. This is clear and conclusive. It 
could not be necessary that a personal notice should be more full 
and particular than is required of a notice left in the absence of 
the person notified." — Per Flagg, Sup't. Com. School Dec. 18. 

If in consequence of the refusal of the trustees of the district 
or districts, from which a new district is formed, to consent to the 
proposed alteration, such new district cannot go into operation 
until after the expiration of three months from the service of notice 
of such alteration, the notice for the first meeting must be deferred 
until the expiration of such time ; or at least must specify a day 
subsequent thereto for the holding of such meeting. 

Where a meeting has been held and officers chosen under a 
notice given by the Town Superintendent, in the mode prescribed 
by law, a second notice for such organization cannot be given under 
the pretence that the proceedings of such first meeting were in- 
valid or irregular. — Com. School Dec. 176. 

On the formation of a new district, if notice for the first district 
meeting is not given within twenty days, it may be given subse- 
quent to the expiration of that period : the provision requiring the 
notice to be given within that time being directory merely. — Id.S58. 

By § 50 of the school act, as amended by chap. 382, Laws of 
1849, it is provided that "when two or more districts shall be 
consolidated into one, the new district shall succeed to all the rights 
of property possessed by the districts of which it shall be com- 
posed, and when a district is annulled and portions thereof are 
annexed to other districts, the property of the district so annulled 
shall be sold by the town superintendent of the town in which the 
school house is located, at public auction to the highest bidder 
10 



146 

therefor, after at least five days public notice by notices posted in 
three or more public places in said town, one of which shall be 
within the district so annulled, and the proceeds of such sale shall 
be first applied so far as requisite, to the payment of any just debts 
due from the district so annulled, and the residue thereof shall be 
apportioned among the taxable inhabitants of the district so annulled 
in the ratio of their several assessments upon the last corrected 
assessment roll of the town or towns with which such district is 
located." 

"Where there are any moneys in the hands of the officers of a 
district that is or may be annulled, or belonging to such district, 
the Town Superintendent of common schools of the town may 
demand, sue for, and recover the same, in their name of office, and 
is required to apportion the same equitably between the districts 
to which the several portions of such annulled district may have 
been annexed, to be held and enjoyed as district property. — Id. 
§ 52, (No. 74.) 

The former provisions of law, authorizing the sale and appor- 
tionment of district property whenever a new district was formed 
from one or more districts possessed of a school house or other 
property, has been repealed : and no such sale or apportionment 
can take place except in the case of a dissolved district, as above 
specified. 

Formation or alteration of Joint Districts. 

By § 44, (No. 70) of the school act, it is provided that " when- 
ever it may be necessary or convenient to form a district out of 
two or more adjoining towns, the Town Superintendents of each 
of such adjoining towns or the major part of them may form, 
regulate and alter such districts." 

In accordance with the spirit of this provision, and of the adju- 
dications under it, it is conceived that the assent of the Town Su- 
perintendent, either singly, or if the supervisors or town clerk are 
associated with him, of a majority of the officers of each of the 
towns from which a joint district is partly composed, is essential 
to the validity of any order forming or altering such joint district. 
In the formation of joint districts, the Town Superintendents, &c., 
represent their respective towns, and the rights of those whom they 
represent cannot be voted away by officers representing the inhab- 
itants of another town. The principle has been settled by the de- 
cisions of Messrs. Flagg, Dix and Young, Superintendents, 
against the dissenting opinion of Mr. Spencer, that the law does 
not authorize the question of the formation or alteration of a joint 
district, to be settled by a joint ballot of the officers representing 
the several towns, from parts of which it is, or is proposed to be, 
composed. See Com. School Dec, 23, 174. 



The moment a single district becomes joint, the action of the 
proper officers of all the towns of which it is a part is indispensable 
to give validity to any alteration in its boundaries ; and such alter- 
ation, whether its effect is to change a joint to a single district, or 
to continue the joint district, can be made only by the concurrence 
of the 7'epresentatwes of each of the toions interested. This con- 
struction is in entire accordance with the whole tenor of the Su- 
perintendent's decision ; and if it is not clear from the language of 
§ 44 that such is the true meaning of that section, all doubt on this 
point will be dispelled by reference to § 46, which provides for the 
case of a refusal on the part of the proper officers of one town to 
act with those of another, for the purpose of altering a joint dis- 
trict." Per Dix Sup't. Oom. School Dec. 174 ; modified in confor- 
mity to the existing provisions of law in reference to the proper 
officers to form, regulate and alter districts. At pages 248 and 253 
of the same volume, the same principle is again distinctly recog- 
nized and enforced by the same Superintendent. " The consent 
of the trustees of a joint district to an altei'ation does not author- 
ize the proper officers of one town to make it without the concur- 
rence of those of the others of which it may be composed, ^ach 
town of which the district is a part, is concerned in its preserva- 
tion, and it is only with the consent of the official authority of each 
town that its boundaries can be enlarged or diminished, excepting 
when the proper officers of one town I'efuse or neglect to meet those 
of the others when their attendance has been required." 

By § 46, fNo. 72) above alluded to, it is provided that where 
the Town Superintendent of common schools of any town shall re- 
quire in wn'iting the attendance of the proper officers of any other 
town or towns, at a joint meeting, for the purpose of altering a 
school district formed from their respective towns, and a major 
part of the officers notified shall refuse or neglect to attend, those 
in attendance may, by a majority of votes, call a special district 
meeting of such district, for the purpose of deciding on such pro- 
posed alteration ; and the decision of such meeting shall be as val- 
id as if made by the proper authority of all the towns interested; 
but shall extend no further than to dissolve the district formed from 
such towns. The effiict of such a dissolution would be to cause the 
inhabitants and territory of each of the towns from parts of which 
the joint district had been composed, to revert under the separate 
jurisdiction of the proper officers of the respective towns, who 
might make such disposition of them as they should deem most 
expedient and proper. 

Single districts are frequently transformed into joint districts by 
operation of law, on the division of towns and counties, or the al- 
teration of their boundaries. A district intersected by the line of 
division between a new town and the town from which it was ta- 
ken, becomes a joint district, and is thereafter subject to the prin-, 
ciples and provisions of law applicable to joint districts. 



Although the joint action of the requisite legal authority of all 
the towns from portions of which a joint district is composed, i& 
necessary to any alteration of such district, yet where such altera-^ 
tion involves the dissolution of the joint district, the powers of the 
joint board cease with the order for such dissolution, and the prop- 
er officer? of each of the towns resume their jurisdiction over the 
inhabitants and territory belonging to their town. The co-opera-^ 
tion of the other members of the joint board, in such sobsequent 
proceedings, although unnecessary and irregular, would not, how- 
ever, it is presumed, vitiate the proceedings. 

In the formation or alteration of joint districts, a joint hoard 
must in all cases be formed. The officers of one town cannot con- 
cur in the proceedings of those of another, at a subsequent period. 
They have no power to act, either separately or by proxy. They 
can neither give their consent beforehand to what their colleagues 
may do, nor can they afterwards in any mode render that validy 
which was before illegal and void. 

General Principles applieahle to the Formation and Alteration 
of Districts. 

The great aim of the officers to whom this duty has been confi- 
ded should be to form, as far as may be practicable, permanent 
and efficient districts, competent both in respect to taxable proper, 
ty and number of children, to sustain good schools for from eight 
to ten months of each year, and affording all requisite facilities for 
the regular attendance of all the children entitled to participate in 
the benefits of the school. 

Whenever alterations may become necessary or expedient, the 
utmost care should be taken to secure the general co-operation of 
the inhabitants interested, and to avoid all those sources of conten- 
tion and discord which are so fatal to the prosperity, harmony an(J 
efficiency of the district. It is better to submit to many temporary 
and local inconveniences, than to hazard the disastrous results 
which almost uniformly follow any general dissatisfaction with con- 
templated alterations, even though such alterations may upon the 
whole be judicious and advantageous. " The good sense of a dis- 
trict may be relied upon, to perceive ultimately its true interesty 
and the loss of time in attaining the desired end is unimportant 
when compared with the consequences of defeating the wishes of 
a decided majority," or even of a respectable minority "of a dis- 
trict." 

School districts must be composed of contiguous territory ; and 
it has been decided that when a person is set off from one district 
to another, and there are lands between the farm so set off and 
the district to which it is annexed, such intermediate territory 
passes to the latter. 

In his annual report to the legislature for the year 1843, the 
Superintendent, ( Col. Young, ) observes, " One of the most 
formidable obstacles to the efficiency of our common schools is 



believed to be the uncessary multiplication and subdivision of" 
districts. In those portions of the state where the population is 
scattered over a large extent of territory, the convenience and ac- 
commodation of the inhabitants, require the formation of districts 
comprising a small amount of taxable property, applicable to the 
support of schools and a limited number of children. But 
where an opposite state of things exists, the interests of educa- 
tion will be most effectually promoted, by assigning to each district 
the greatest extent of territory compatible with securing to the 
children the requisite facilities for their regular attendance at the 
schools." 

In a case coming before him on appeal, in 1835, Gen. Dix 
observes in reference to this subject : " Almost all the existing 
evils of the common school system have their origin in the limited 
means of the school district. The tendency is to subdivision and 
to a contraction of their territorial boundaries. This consequence 
must follow in some degree from the increase of population , but 
the subdivision of school districts tends to advance in a much 
greater ratio. The average number of children in our school dis- 
tricts is about fifty-five. No school district should number less than 
forty children between [four and twenty-one years] of age. From 
the observations he has made, the Superintendent deems it due to 
the common school system, that no new district shall be formed 
with a much smaller number, unless peculiar circumstances render 
it proper to make it an exception to the general rule. In feeble 
district*, cheap instructors, poor and ill furnished school-houses, 
and a general languor of the cause of education are almost certain 
to be found."— Com. School Dec. 220. 

II. APPORTIONMRNT AND PAYMENT OF PUBLIC MONET. 

By subdivisions 5, 6 and 7 of § 8 of the school act (No. 33) it 
is made the duty of the Town Superintendents " To apply for and 
receive from the county treasurer, all moneys apportioned for the 
use of common schools in their town, and from the collector of the 
town, all moneys raised therein for the same purpose, as soon as 
such moneys shall become payable, or be collected, and to appor- 
tion the school moneys received by them, on the first Tuesday of 
April, in each year, among the several school districts, parts of 
districts, and neighborhoods separately set off, within their town, 
in proportion to the number of children residing in each, over the 
age of four and under that of twenty-one years, as the same shall 
have appeared from the last annual reports of their respective 
trustees. If they shall have received the school moneys of their 
town, and all the reports from the several school districts therein, 
before the first Tuesday in April, they shall apportion such moneys 
as above directed, within ten days after receiving all of the said 
reports and the said moneys." The practice of making two divisiont 
of the public money among the districts in the course of the year, 
is contrary to the express provision of the statute. The sixth 



subdivision of section 8 (No. 33) makes it the duty of the Town 
Superintendent to apportion the school moneys received by him on 
the j^rs^ Tuesday of April in each year ; and by the 7th subdivision 
of the same section, if he have received reports from all the districts 
before that day, he is to divide the money within ten days after 
receiving all the reports and the money. 

The annual reports of the trustees of the several districts are, 
as will be seen hereafter under the appropriate head required to 
be made and transmitted to the Town Superintendent, between 
the first and fifteenth of January in each year ; and the public 
money irom all sources is payable immediately after its receipt by 
the county treasurer on the first of February. If, therefore, the 
reports of the respective trustees are made within the time pres- 
cribed by law, ample opportunity will be afforded to the Town 
Superintendent to point out all errors and deficiencies in them, 
and to enable the trustees either to make the necessary corrections 
or apply to the department for relief, before the apportionment is 
finally made. In making the apportionment, the Town Superin- 
tendent is first to assign to each district, from which the necessai-y 
report has been received, or which is entitled to share in the appor- 
tionment, its proportion of the public money received from all 
sources, according to the number of children between the ages of 
four and twenty-one, designating the respective proportions of 
teachers' and library money belonging to each district. The pro- 
portion of library money to be apportioned to each district, may be 
ascertained by setting apart five dollars out of each hundred or 
five per cent of the whole amount apportioned to each district. The 
teachers' money is to be paid over "on the written order of a majori- 
ty of the trustees of each district, to the teachers entitled to receive 
the same." It will therefore be incumbent on the Town Super- 
intendent to satisfy himself, both of the genuineness of the order 
and that the person presenting it has the certificate of the trustees 
that he is or was a teacher of the district, and duly qualified ac- 
cording to law. In order to entitle a district to its share of teach- 
ers' money, it must appear from its annual report, " that a school 
had been kept therein for at least six months during the year, 
ending at the date of such report, by a qualified teacher," after 
obtaining a certificate of competency from the proper authority j 
that all the teachers' money received during the year has been 
expended in the payment of such teacher ; " that no other than 
a duly qualified teacher had at any time during the year for more 
than one month been employed to teach the school in said district ; " 
and such report must, in all other respects, be in accordance with 
law, and the requisitions and instructions of the Superintendent, 
made in pursuance of law. In other words, it must be in the form 
prescribed by the Superintendent, and must contain all the inform- 
ation required by law and by the department to be given. 

The library money is to be paid over to, or on the order of, a 
majority of the trustees, on its appearing from the annual report 



151 

that " the library money received at the last preceding apportion- 
ment was duly expended according to law, (in the purchase of 
books suitable for a district library, or in the purchase of maps, 
globes, black-boards, or other scientific apparatus for the use of 
schools, in the cases and in the mode presci'ibed by law, or for 
teachers' wages, with the assent of the state superintendent, on or 
before the first day of October subsequent to such apportionment." 
The report must uniformly be accompanied with a catalogue of 
the books or apparatus purchased since the last preceding catalogue, 
and must state accurately the number of volumes and their con- 
dition ; and when the money has been expended in the purchase 
of apparatus, &c., or for teachers' wages, the authority under which 
such expenditure has been made, and a full and particular inven- 
tory of the articles purchased, must be specifically reported. 

By chapter 257 of the Laws of 1829, in those counties where 
the distinction between town and county poor is abolished, the in- 
habitants of towns having any funds in the hands of their over- 
seers of the poor, may appropriate all or any part of such funds to 
such purposes as shall be determined at an annual or special town 
meeting. If appropriated for the benefit of common schools, it is 
made a fund for that purpose, and is placed under the charge of 
the Town Superintendent of common schools of the town. The 
interest is to be applied " to the support of common schools." But 
the town may, at an annual meeting, direct the whole principal, as 
well as the interest, to be applied for the benefit of common schools. 
[<Sfee vol. 1, 2d ed. Rev. Statutes, page 351, and Com. School Dec, 
pa^e4I8.] 

The Town Superintendent will, therefore, be bound to distribute 
the interest, and the principal when directed by the town, equally 
among the districts. He cannot adopt a more just or convenient 
ratio than that established by the existing law in relation to the 
public money — the number of children above four and under twenty 
one years of age. 

The purchase of district libraries would not be an application 
" to the support of common schools." They are not intended for 
the schools exclusively, or particularly, but for the benefit of all the 
inhabitants, and cannot be said to form any part of " the common 
schools." No part of the interest or principal of this town fund, 
therefore, can be distributed as " library money ;" the whole must 
be apportioned and paid over as school money. 

There are laws of a similar character respecting the gospel and 
school lots, which are so local and peculiar as not to justify any 
particular observations concerning them in this connection, except 
that none of these funds can properly be applied to the purchase 
of books. 

In apportioning and paying the money in their hands to trustees 
of school districts, the Town Superintendents should bear in mind 
that the "teachers' money" and the "library money" are entirely 
independent of each other. The report of the trustees of school 
districts may entitle them to their " teachers' money," and yet they 



152 

may not have complied with the conditions upon which they are 
authorized to receive the "library money." For instance, they 
may not have expended the latter in the purchase of books ; and 
yet they may have fully complied with the law in regard to their 
schools. So they may be entitled to " library money" and yet not 
have had a school kept six months by a qua ified teacher. In all 
such cases the money appropriated to the different objects, teachers 
or library, is to be distributed upon the reports relating to those ob- 
jects only. 

By § 15 of the act of 1841, (No. 147,) Town Superintendents 
are required to apportion and pay to the trustees of colored schools 
established in their town, according to the provisions of that sec- 
tion, a portion of the public money, according to the number of 
colored children between the ages of four and twenty-one yeai's, 
appearing by the reports of the trustees to have been instructed in 
such schools for at least four months during the preceding year by 
a licensed teacher, and to deduct the amount so apportioned from 
the shares of the districts from which such children have respect- 
ively attended. 

In all cases where the annual report of the trustees of a district 
shall not be found in substantial accordance with the law, or the 
forms or instructions prescribed by the Superintendent, it is the 
duty of the Town Superintendent to withhold from such district 
the share of teachers' or library money to which it would other- 
wise have been entitled ; to direct the defaulting trustees to make 
immediate application to the department, setting forth under oath 
any excuse they may have for omitting to comply with the requi- 
sitions of law ; and to retain the amount apportioned to such dis- 
trict and so withheld, to await the directions of the department in 
reference to its disposition. In case no directions are received, 
prior to the next succeeding apportionment, the Town Superinten- 
dent is to add the amount so retained to the fund for distribution 
the ensuing year. 

By the second section of the act of 1841, (No. 39,) it is provi- 
ded that " whenever an apportionment of the public money shall 
not be made to any school district, in consequence of any accident- 
al omission to make any report required by law, or to comply with 
any other provision of law, or any regulation, the Superintendent 
of CJommon Schools may direct an apportionment to be made to 
such district, according to the equitable circumstances of the case, 
to be paid out of the public money on hand ; or if the same shall 
have been distributed, out of the public money to be received in a 
succeeding year." And by the sixth section of chap. 177, Laws 
of 1839, (No. 161,) whenever any library money shall be with- 
held from any school district, the same may be distributed among 
other districts complying with such conditions, or may be retained 
and paid subsequently to the district from which the same was with 
held, as shall be directed by the Superintendent of common schools, 
according to the circumstances of the case. 



Ifi9f 

By §§ 17 and 18 (No.'s 42 and 43) of the school act, " All mon- 
eys apportioned by the Town Superintendent to the trustees of a 
district, part of a district or separate neighborhood, which shall 
have remained in the hands of such Superintendent for one year 
after such apportionment, by reason of the trustees neglecting or 
refusing to receive the same, shall be added to the moneys next 
thereafter to be apportioned, and shall be apportioned and paid 
therewith in the same manner ; aud in case any school moneys re- 
ceived by the Town Superintendent cannot be apportioned by him 
for the term of two years after the same are received, by reason of 
the non-compliance of all the school districts in the town with the 
provisions of this title, such moneys shall be returned by him to 
the county treasurer, to be by him apportioned and distributed, to- 
gether and in the same manner with the moneys next thereafter to 
be received by him for the use of common schools." 

If the Town Superintendent knows, or has good reason to be- 
lieve, any district report to be erroneous or false, he may withhold 
the public money from the district, and submit the facts to the Su- 
perintendent. 

If, after the time when the annual reports are required to be da- 
ted, and before the apportionment of the school moneys shall have 
been made by the Town Superintendent, a district shall be duly 
altered, or a new district be formed in the town, so as to render an 
apportionment founded solely on the annual reports unjust, as be- 
tween two or more district of the town, the Town Superintendent 
is required by § 15 (No. 40) of the school act, to make an appor- 
tionment among such districts, according to the number of children 
in each, over the ages of four and under twenty-one years, ascer- 
taining that number by the best evidence in his power ; and by 
the first section of chap. 206 of the Laws of 1831, § 16 (No. 41) 
the same provision is extended to all cases where a school district 
shall have been formed at such time previous to the first day of 
January, as not to have allowed a reasonable time to have kept a 
school therein for the terra of six months, such district having been 
formed out of a district or districts in which a school shall have 
been kept for six mouths, by a teacher duly qualified, during the 
year preceding the first day of January. 

The apportionment of public money by the Town Superintend- 
ent can in no case be made prior to the first Tuesday in April, 
except where reports from all the districts and'parts of districts in 
the town, and all the public moneys, have been received before 
that time ; but under certain circumstances it may be made subse- 
quently. The specification of time in the statute is not intended 
to limit the exercise of the authority of the Town Superintendent 
in this respect, but may be regarded as directory merely ; and it 
has accordingly been held that if for any justifiable cause the ap- 
portionment is not made or completed on the day spejiified, it may 
be made at a subsequent period. 



In all cases where school districts have complied substantially 
with the law, the trustees may be allowed to correct their reports, 
as to mere matter of form, at any time before the money is actu- 
ally apportioned and paid. A district ought not to lose its money 
in consequence of a misconception of the law, or a mere clerical 
error on the part of some of its officers. The Town Superintend- 
ent should consider himself the guardian of the equitable rights of 
the districts, and when he discovers an error as io form, which, if 
not corrected, would deprive a district of its just share of public 
money, he should point it out to the trustees, to the end that it may 
be corrected, and the fair rights of the district secured. — Per Flagg 
and Dix, Sup'ts. Com, School Dec. 36, 181. 

By a regulation of the Superintendent of Common Schools made 
in pursuance of law, Town Superintendents are prohibited from 
paying over the share of library money apportioned to any district 
in the following cases : 

1st. Where a catalogue of the title of all the books in the dis- 
trict library, purchased or obtained since the last preceding cata- 
logue, with the number of volumes of each set or series, and the 
condition of such books, signed by the trustees and librarian, has 
not been delivered. 

2d. Where the number of books belonging to the library is not 
stated in the annual report of the trustees. 

3d. Where it does not clearly appear from such report that the 
whole of the library money paid to such district the preceding year 
has been expended within the time and in the mode prescribed by 
law ; and if for the purchase of maps, globes or other school appa- 
ratus, or for teachers' wages, for what particular articles, and un- 
der what authority or resolution of the district. 

4th. Whenever it appears that any portion of the library mo- 
ney of the preceding year has been expended in the purchase of 
any text book or any book clearly improper to be admitted into a 
district library. In cases where there may be room for an honest 
difference of opinion as to the admissibility of any book or books, 
purchased by the trustees, the Town Superintendent should in- 
clude the district in the apportionment of library money, and 
refer the inhabitants aggrieved by such selection to their remedy 
by appeal. 

III. THE INSPECTION AND LICENSING OP TEACHERS, AND THB 
VISITATION AND SUPERVISION OF SCHOOLS. 

The Town Superintendent is, by virtue of his office, inspector 
of common schools of his town ; and it is his duty " to examine all 
persons offering themselves as candidates for teaching common 
schools in such town." In making such examination it is his duty 
"to ascertain,the qualifications of the candidate in respect to moral 
character, learning and ability." If he " shall be satisfied in respect 
to the qualifications of the candidate, he shall deliver to the per- 



155 

son so examined a certificate signed by him, in such form as shall 
be prescribed by the Superintendent of Common Schools." 

He may annul any such certificate given by him or his prede- 
cessor in office, when he shall think proper, giving at least ten 
days' previous notice in writing to the teacher holding it, and to 
the trustees of the districts in which he may be employed, of his 
intention to annul the same. 

Whenever he shall deem it necessary, he may require a re-ex- 
amination of all or any of the teachers in his town, (not holding 
State or county certificates or the diplomas of the State Normal 
School,) for the purpose of ascertaining their qualifications to con- 
tinue as such teachers. The annulling of a certificate does not, 
however, disqualify the teacher to whom it was given, until a note 
in writing thereof, containing the name of the teacher, and the 
time when his certificate was annulled, shall be made by the Town 
Superintendent and filed in the office of the clerk of the town. 

Where any school district is composed of a part of two or more 
towns, or any school-house shall stand on the division line of any 
two towns, the Town Superintendent of either town may examine 
into and certify the q^lifications of any teacher offering to teach 
in such district, and may also in the same manner annul the certi- 
ficate of such teacher. — § 33 — 40, (Nos. 59 — 66) school act. 

The duties and powers thus confided to the Town Superintendent 
are most important and involve great responsibility ; and upon 
their proper fulfilment, depends in a very essential degree, the 
elevation and improvement of the district schools. If none but 
properly qualified teachers are permitted to find their way to our 
schools ; if the certificate of the examining officer, and the sanc- 
tion of his authority, are given only to those who are intellectually 
and morally fitted adequately to discharge the duties of instructors 
of youth, " apt to teach," competent to communicate instruction 
in the mode best adapted to develop the various faculties of the 
expanding mind, patterns alike of moral and social excellence; 
these elementary institutions will speedily become the fitting tem- 
ples of science, the nurseries of virtue and the pride and boast of the 
state. Hitherto this duty has been deplorably neglected ; and the dis- 
astrous conseqences are every where visible in the degradation of 
the district school, the substitute of private and select schools of 
every grade, the low estimation in which the profession of the 
teacher is held, and the miserable pittance — too often most costly 
in its utmost scantiness — which is reluctantly doled out to the 
needy and destitute adventurer. A thorough reform in this respect 
is imperatively demanded as well by public sentiment, as by a 
just regard to the paramount interests of education ; and no con- 
sideration of temporary convenience to a particular district, of 
favor to individuals, or of regard to the prejudices or preferences 
of inhabitants or trustees, will, it is hoped hereafter be permitted 
in any case to sway the action of the certifying oflScer, or incline 
him, either to the right or the left, from the plain path of duty and 



15€ 

obligation. A certificate should in no case, and under no circum- 
stances, be granted, unless the candidate is found upon a careful 
examination, well qualified to instruct in all the ordinary branches 
usually taught in common schools — thoroughly versed in ih& prin- 
ciples of elementary science — capable of readily applying them to 
any given case, and able to communicate with facility, the results 
of his knowledge ; and unless in addition to this, his character and 
demeanor are irreproachable, his habits exemplary, and his moral 
principles undoubted. In order as well to be assured that the 
impressions resulting from the examination were well founded, as 
to make himself acquainted with the condition and prospects of 
the schools, the Town Superintendent should, once at least during 
each term, visit and inspect the schools ; and whenever practicable, 
should be accompanied by the trustees of the districts and such of 
the inhabitants as may be prevailed upon to attend. To afford 
every reasonable accommodation to those teachers desiring to 
offer themselves as candidates for examination, Town Superin- 
tendents should appoint a particular day and place in the town, 
and when the town is very large, in different sections of it, when 
they will be in readiness to examine teachers. Public notice of 
such appointment should be given. It is probable that this will 
bring together several applicants, and thus diminish the labors of 
the superintendent, particularly as this course will obviate 
the necessity of special examinations, as well as prevent the neces- 
sity of a re-examination during the year. In making such ex- 
aminations, they should confine themselves to the subjects specified 
in the statute § 35, (No. 61,) and should ascertain the qualifications 
of the candidates in respect, 1st, to moral character; 2d, learning; 
and third ability. 

First. — They should require testimonials of moral character, 
from those acquainted with the applicant, which is to be either 
verbal or written, and the latter is to be preferred. This is not a 
matter to be neglected or slighted. Those to whom the training of 
our youth is to be committed, should possess such a character as 
will inspire confidence in the rectitude of their principles and the 
propriety of their conduct; and it is to be understood as a positive 
regulation of this department, that no license is to be granted, 
without entire satisfaction on this point. This must be understood 
to relate to moral character — to the reputation of the applicants 
as good citizens, free from the reproach of crime or immoral con- 
duct. It does not extend to their belief, religious or political : 
but it may apply to their manner of expressing such belief or 
maintaining it. If that manner is, in itself, boisterous and disorder- 
ly, intemperate and offensive, it may well be supposed to indicate 
ungoverned passions, or want of sound principles of conduct, which 
would render its possessor obnoxious to the inhabitants of the dis- 
trict, and unfit for the sacred duties of a teacher of youth, who 
should instruct as well by example as by precept. 



157 

Second. — As to the learning of the applicants. It should ap- 
pear from their examination that they are good spellers, distinct 
and accurate readers, write good and plain hands, can make pens 
and are well versed, 

1st. In the definition of words : 

2d. In arithmetic, mental and written : 

3d. In geography, as far as contained in any of the works in 
ordinary use. 

4th. In the history of the United States, of England, and of Eu- 
rope generally : 

5th. In the principles of English grammar : and, 

6th. In the use of globes. 

If they are found well acquainted with the other branches, a 
more slight knowledge of the 4th and 6th heads, as above enumer- 
ated, may be excused. 

Third. — The ability of the applicants to teach. Mere learning 
without the capacity to impart it, would be of no use. The super- 
intendents should satisfy themselves by general inquiries, and par- 
ticularly by a thorough investigation of the applicants respectively, 
of their qualifications in this respect, of their tact in dealing with 
children, and especially of their possessing the unwearied patience 
and invariable good nature, so necessary to constitute useful teach- 
ers of youth. 

Having satisfied themselves on these several points, the town 
superintendents will grant certificates in the usual form. 

The certificates of qualification granted by Town Superintend- 
ents are to be in the form prescribed by the State Superintendent; 
to remain in force for one year only; are available only within the 
town for which they were granted, and may be annulled at any 
time by the officer granting them, or his successor, giving ten days 
notice in writing of intention to annul the same, to the teacher and 
trustees. 

By § 41 and §42 of the school act, (Nos. 67, 68,) it is made the 
duty of the Town Superintendent to visit all such common schools, 
within his town, as shall be organized according to law, at least 
twice a year, and oftener if he shall deem it necessary. At such 
visitations, he is required to examine into the state and condition of 
such schools, both as respects the progress of the scholars in learn- 
ing, and the good order of the schools, and may give his advice 
and direction to the trustees and teachers of such schools, as to 
the government thereof, and the course of studies to be pursued 
therein. 

" If the opinions of the best and most experienced writers on 
primary education are not entirely fallacious, and if all the results 
of experience hitherto are not deceptive, the consequences of such 
a vigorous system of inspection will be most happy. The teachers 
and pupils will feel that they are not abandoned to neglect ; the 
apprehension of discredit will stimulate them to the greatest effort ; 
while the suggestions of the visitors will tend constantly to the im- 



158 

provement of the schools, and they will themselves be more and 
more enabled to recommend proper measures, from their better 
acquaintance with the subject." — Instructions of Spencer, SupH, 
1841. 

A certificate cannot be annulled by the Town Superintendent 
until ten days' previous notice in writing has been given to the 
teacher and to the trustees of the district in which he has been em- 
ployed, of the intention to annul the same. As the complaint must 
necessarily be stated, and its truth investigated, before any deci- 
sion, it would be more convenient to the Town Superintendent, 
and more fair and just to the teacher, to apprise him of its nature 
in the notice of intention to annul. 

Certificates ot qualification granted by Town Superintendents to 
teachers must, in all cases, be in conformity to the form prescribed 
by the Superintendent of Common Schools. They cannot be 
granted upon the ground of ability to teach a particular school, for 
a particular term, or in a particular district. When granted in 
the form prescribed by the Superintendent, they authorize the hold- 
er to teach any school in the town for which they were granted, 
during any part 'of the year commencing at their date. 

The examination of .candidates for teachers should in all cases 
be thorough and strict, and no certificate should be granted unless 
the examining officer is satisfied as to all the qualifications required 
by law, '* A certificate of qualification in any other form than that 
prescribed by the Superintendent is not a compliance with the stat- 
ute ; as for instance, that A. B. gave the examining officer good 
satisfaction in certain enumerated branches, and that his moral 
character is good. The law authorizes him to give a certificate in 
a certain event, and then it must be in the form specified. If he is 
satisfied as to the qualifications of the teacher in respect to moral 
character, learning and ability, he is bound to give him such a cer- 
tificate as the Superintendent shall have pi'escribed. If he is not 
satisfied he should give him no certificate all. He is wholly unau- 
thorized to take a middle course by giving a qualified certificatey 
— Per Dix, Sup't. Com. School Dee. 236. 

The certificate must also bear date on the day of examination) 
and cannot be ante-dated. 

In cases where a school district is composed of parts of two 
or more towns, the Town Superintendent of the town in which 
the school house is situated, is exclusively authorized by Sec. 40, 
(No. 66,) to examine into and certify the qualifications of any 
teacher ofFei'ing to teach in such joint district, and for sufficient 
causes to annul the certificate of such teacher. His jurisdiction 
in this respect cannot in any manner, or under any pretence, be 
interfered with by the superintendents of either of the other 
towns from which such joint district is partly composed. 



IS9 

The qualifications of teachers are left to the discrimination and 
judgment of the legal examiners. They must determine the de- 
gree of learning and ability necessary for a teacher. They ought 
to be satisfied that a certificate is given to those only whose learn- 
ing and ability fit them in all respects to instruct common .schools. 
In revising the school law, the revisers inserted a provision that 
no candidate for teaching should be deemed qualified, unless upon 
examination he should appear to be well instructed in reading, 
orthography, penmanship, English grammer, geography and 
arithmetic, including vulgar and decimal fractions. "' This pro- 
vision, however, was stricken out by the legislature, and the whole 
matter is left discretionary. — Com. School Dec. 42. 

In judging of the moral character of a candidate for teacher, if 
the examining officer knows of any serious imputation or defect ot 
principle, it is his duty to refuse to certify. A certificate may be 
annulled for immoral habits generally, notwithstanding the teach- 
er may perform all his duties during school hours. — Id. 46. 

In relation to the moral character of the teacher, much is left 
to the discretion of the examining officer. He must be satisfied 
that it is good; because he has to certify to its correctness. On, 
this point what would be satisfactory to one man might be unsatis- 
factory to another. Every person has a right to the enjoyment ol 
his own religious belief without mole3lation : and the examining 
officer should content himself with inquiries as to the moral charac- 
ter of the teacher, leaving him to the same liberal enjoyment of his 
religious belief that he asks for himself. If, however, a person 
openly derides all religion, he ought not to be a teacher of youth. 
The employment of such a person would be considered a grievance 
by a great portion of the inhabitants of all the districts. — Per 
Flagg, Sup't. Id. 60. 

Neither the trustees nor the inhabitants of school districts are 
the judges of the qualifications of teachers. The law has con- 
fided the power of examining teachers to the officers expressly 
designated for that purpose ; and its object was to secure the em- 
ployment of competent persons. If the trustees or inhabitants are 
to determine what their district require, and the certifying officers 
are to be governed by their opinions and wishes, the officers them- 
selves might as well be dispensed with. In his annual report to 
the legislature for the year 1835, the Superintendent of Common 
Schools (Gen. Dix) observes: "One of the most responsible and 
delicate trusts to be executed under the common school system is 
that of inspecting teachers and pronouncing upon their qualifica 
tions. If this is negligently conducted or with a willingness to 
overlook deficiencies, instead of insisting rigidly upon the require- 
ments of the law, it is manifest that men without the necessary 
moral character, learning or ability, will gain a foothold in the 
common schools, and present a serious obstacle to^the improve- 
ments of which they are susceptible. This would be an evil of 
the greatest magnitude, and there is no remedy for it but a strict 



inspection of the candidates. It has been the practice in some 
instances for the inspectors to have a reference to the -particular 
circumstances of the cases in giving a certificate. Thus they have 
sometimes given an individual a certificate with a view to a 
summer school, in which the children taught are usually smaller 
and require less of the teacher, when the certificate would have 
been withheld, if it was asked with a view to qualify the teacher 
for a lointer school. But it is obvious that such a distinction is 
wholly inadmissible. A certificate must be unconditional, by the 
terms of the law. The inspectors must be satisfied with the 
qualifications of the teacher " in respect to moral character, learn- 
ing and ability ;" and the certificate when once given is an abso- 
lute warrant for the individual to teach for a year, and to receive 
the public money, unless revoked before the expiration of the year, 
in which case it ceases to be operative from the date of its revo- 
cation. The standard of qualification for teachers, so far as grant- 
ing certificates is concerned, is of necessity, arbitrary. The law 
does not prescribe the degree of learning or ability which a teach- 
er shall possess, but virtually refers the decision of this important 
matter to the inspectors, who have not, neither should they possess 
the power of relaxing the general rule with reference to the cir- 
cumstances of any particular case, by departing from the standard 
of qualification which they assume as their guide in others." — 
Id. 326. 

1. The act does not require the superintendents to notify the 
trustees of their visits and invite their attendance. The superin- 
tendents should, however, give notice to the trustees of the districts, 
of the time when their schools will be visited. To enable them to 
comply with these provisions, they should make a previous ar- 
rangement of their visits, in reference to the means of traveling, so 
as to reach as many districts as possible in the shortest time. Hav- 
ing fixed the time for visiting the schools, they should at once give 
ample notice, by transmitting a copy of their arrangement to the 
trustees of the districts embraced within it, and request them to at- 
tend. 

The inhabitants of the district, and particularly parents who 
have children attending the school, should be invited to be present 
at the inspection by the superintendent ; and trustees of districts 
are hereby required, whenever they receive information of an in- 
tended visit, to communicate it as generally as possible to the in- 
habitants. Their attendance will afford an opportunity for the 
public addresses of the superintendents, herein suggested. 

2. Examination of the School. — Preparatory to this, the super- 
intendent should ascertain from the teacher the number of classes ; 
the studies pursued by each ; the routine of the school ; the suc- 
cessive exercises of each class during each hour of the day ; the 

spells allowed, &c., and thus obtain a general knowledge of 
school, which will be found greatly to facilitate his subsequent 
es. Every superintendent is enjoined to call for and examine 



161 

the list of scholars in the book which the Statute requires the 
teacher to keep, in order that he may see whether the names are 
correctly and neatly entered. He will also examine the day roll 
and the weekly i-oll, which by the the succeding regulations, teach- 
ers are directed to preserve, and will ascertain by the proper en- 
quiries, whether they are exact in entering all who are present. 

The supeiintendent will then hear each class recite the ordinary 
lesson of" the day. It will then be examined on the subjects of 
study. Generally it will be better to allow the teacher to conduct 
the exercises and examinations, as the pupils will be less likely to 
be intimidated, and an opportunity will be given of judging of the 
qualifications of the instructors. 

To enable him to compare the school with itself at another time, 
and with other schools, and to comply with the regulations here- 
inafter contained, respecting the annual reports, the superintendent 
should keep notes of his observations, and of the information he ob- 
tains on all the subjects on which he is required to report; and he 
should particularly note any peculiarities which seem to require 
notice, in the mode of instruction, in the government and discipline 
of the school, and the appearance of the pupils, in respect to their 
cleanliness of person and neatness of apparel. 

y. The superintendent will also examine the condition of the 
school house and its appurtenances ; whether the room has the 
means of ventilation, by lowering an upper sash, or otherwise ; 
whether it is sufficiently tight to protect the children from currents 
of air, and to keep them warm in winter ; whether there is a sup- 
ply of good water ; the condition of the privies, and whether they 
are provided for both sexes ; and the accommodations for physical 
exercise. Their attention will be given to the arrangement of 
the school room; whether the seats and desks are placed most 
conveniently for the pupils and teachers, and particularly whether 
backs are provided for the seats, a circumstance very important to 
the comfort and health of the children. They should also inquire 
whether blackboards and alphabetical cards, or any apparatus to 
assist learners are furnished. 

The preceding topics of inquiry are suggested, rather as hints of 
the most important, than intended to embrace the whole field. The 
judgment and observation of the superintendents will discover 
many other subjects deserving their attention. 

4. The superintendents will also inquire into the condition of 
the district, in relation to its ability to maintain a school ; whether 
its interest and the convenience of its inhabitants can be promoted 
by any alterations, without injury to others ; and they will suggest 
whatever occurs to them, to the trustees. 

In case of any gross deficiency or inconvenience, which the pro- 
per officers refuse or decline to remedy, the superintendents will 
note it in their annual reports to the county clerks. 

11 



162 

5. They will also examine the district library, and obtain the 
information respecting it, hereinafter required to be stated in 
their reports. 

Advising and consulting with the trustees and other officers of school 

districts. 
This is made a special duty of the town superintendents by these 
instructions ; they are to advise the trustees and other officers in 
relation to all their duties, and to recommend to them and the 
teachers the proper studies, discipline, and conduct of the school, 
the course of instruction to be pursued, and the elementary books 
to be used. The notes which the superintendents make during 
their inspection of the school, will much facilitate the discharge of 
this portion of their duty. 

1. In regard to proper studies. If they find any important one 
omitted, or that pupils are hastened on without thoroughly under- 
standing the preliminary or previous branches, they should point 
out the error and its consequences. For instance, they should 
urge the absolute necessity of children being thoroughly and fre- 
quently exercised in spelling, so that they make no mistakes in any 
words in common use. Without this it is impossible for them to 
be good readers. And in the exercise of reading, they should in- 
sist on clear and district articulation, more than any other quality : 
and generally the ability of the superintendent is relied upon to 
detect bad habits in the manner of reciting, erroneous ideas on the 
subject and superficial acquirements. 

2. The discipline and conduct of the school. It can scarcely be 
necessary to remark on the importance of order and system in the 
schools, not only to enable the pupils to learn anything, but to give 
them those habits of regularity so essential in the formation of 
character. Punctuality of attendance, as well as its steady contin- 
uance should be enforced. Parents should be told how much their 
children lose, to what inconvenience they expose the teacher, and 
what disorder they bring upon the whole school, by not insisting 
upon the scholars being punctually at the school room at the ap- 
pointed hour ; and above all, they should be warned of the injurious 
consequences of allowing their children to be absent from school 
during the term. By being indulged in absences they lose the 
connection of their studies, probably fall behind their class, become 
discouraged, and then seek every pretext to phay the truant. The 
habit of irregularity and insubordination thus acquired, will be apt 
to mark their character through life. Trustees should be informed 
that the omission of parents to require the regular and punctual at- 
tendance of their children will justify their exclusion, on account of 
the effect of such irregularity upon the other pupils. 

The superintendents should also observe whether the teachers 
are careful to preserve the respect of their pupils, not only by 
maintaining their authority, but by a becoming deportment, both 
in the school room and out of it. 



3. With regard to the course -of instruction, the advice of the 
superintendents will often be of great value. The usual order has 
been found by long experience to be the best, viz : the alphabet, 
spelling, reading with definitions, arithmetic, geography, history and 
grammar. No child should be put to any study beyond his capa- 
city, or for which he is not already prepared. English grammar 
particularly demands so much exercise of the intellect, that it ought 
to be delayed until the pupil has acquired considerable strength of 
mind. 

4. The books of elementary instruction. — It is believed that there 
are none now in use in our schools that ai'e very defective ; and 
the ^difference between them is so slight, that the gain to the 
scholar will not compensate for the heavy expense to the parent, 
cavised by the substitution of new books with every new teacher ; 
and the capriciousness of change which some are apt to indulge on 
this subject, cannot be too strongly or decidedly resisted. Trustees 
of districts should look to this matter when they engage teachers. 

One consequence of the practice is, the great variety of text 
books on the same subject, acknowledged by all to be one of the 
greatest evils which afflicts our schools. It compels the teacher to 
divide the pupils into as many classes as there are kinds of books, 
so that the time which might have been devoted to a careful and 
deliberate hearing of a class of ten or twelve, where all could have 
improved by the corrections and observations of the instructor, is 
almost wasted in the hurried recitations of ten or a dozen pupils 
in separate classes ; while in large schools, some must be wholly 
neglected. Wherever the superintendents find this difficulty exis- 
ting, they should not fail to point out its injurious consequences, 
and to urge a remedy by the adoption of uniform text books as 
speedily as possible. To accomplish this, let the trustees, under 
the advice of the teacher, inspectors and superintendents, determine 
Avhat textbooks shall be used in each study, and require evey 
child thereafter coming to the school to be provided with the de- 
signated books. This very desirable uniformity may, perhaps, be 
facilitated by exchanges between different districts, of the books 
that do not correspond with those in general use, for such as do. 
For instance, in one school the great majority of spelling books 
may be those of Webster with some of Marshall's, whiffe tlie latter 
may predominate in another district in which there are also sever- 
al of Webster's In such cases, an exchange of the different books 
between the two would obviously be mutually beneficial. The 
superintendents might assist in the execution of such an arrange- 
ment by noting the proportions of the various books in the differ- 
ent schools. 

5. The direction of School Houses. — It would be well for the town 
superintendents to give particular attention to this subject. When- 
ever they learn that the building of a school house is contemplated, 
they should advise with the trustees respecting its plan. He must 



164 

be a superficial observer, who ha^ not perceived how much the 
health of pupils, the order and discipline of a school, and the con- 
venience of the teacher, depend upon the arrangements of the 
school room. This is not the place to state the best models. In- 
formation upon that point, collected with great care from Europe 
and America, has already been given, in the District School Jour- 
nal, and in Mr. Barnard's admirable volume on school architec- 
ture. Whenever repairs are about to be made to school houses, 
the superintendents should avail themselves or the occasion to re- 
commend such improvement as may be desirable. 

6. In their consultations with trustees and teachers, the super- 
intendents should be especially careful to communicate their sug- 
gestions in a kind and friendly spirit, as the most likely means of 
success, and as the only mode of preserving those harmonious rela- 
tions, which are essential to their own happiness as well as useful- 
ness ; and whenever they observe any thing in the mode of in- 
struction, in the government or discipline of the school, or in any 
other point, which, in their judgment, requires correction, they will 
make it a point to intimate their views to the teacher in private, 
and never, on any occasion, suffer themselves to find fault with him 
in the presence of his pupils. Children cannot discriminate, and 
they will feel themselves at liberty to blame, when the example 
has been set by others. The authority of the teacher should be 
preserved entire while he remains. If his conduct is worthy of 
public censure, he should be at once dismissed, rather than be re- 
tained to become an object of the contempt of his scholars. 

IV. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TOWN SUPERINTENDENT. 

By § 19 (No. 44) of the school act, and the succeeding sections, 
it is made " the duty of the Town Superintendent in each town, 
between the first day of July and the first day of August, in each 
year, to make and transmit to the county clerk, a report in writing 
bearing date on the fi^ st day of July, in the year of its transmission, 
and stating, 

1. The whole number of school districts and neighborhoods, 
separately set off within their town : 

2. The districts, parts of districts, and neighborhoods, from which 
reports shall have been made to him, or his immediate predecessors 
in office, within the time limited for that purpose : 

o. The length of time a school shall have been kept in each of 
such districts or parts of districts, distinguishing what portion of 
that time the school shall have been kept by qualified teachers : 

4. The amount of public moneys received in each of such dis- 
tricts, parts of districts and neighborhoods : 

5. The number of children taught in each, and the number of 
children over the age of four and under twenty-one years, residing 
in. each : 

6. The whole amount of moneys received by him or his prede- 
cessors in office, during the year ending at the date of his report. 



165 

and since the date of his last preceding report; distinguishing 
the amount received from the county treasurer and from any other 
and what source : 

7. The manner in which such moneys have been expended, 
and whether any and what part, remains unexpended, and for 
what cause : 

8. The amount of money paid for teachers' wages, in addition 
to the public money paid therefor, in the districts, parts of dis- 
tricts and neighborhoods from which reports shall have been re- 
ceived by him or his immediate predecessors, in office, with such 
other information as the Superintendent of Common Schools may 
from time to time require, in relation to the districts and schools 
within his town. 

Under this provision the Superintendent has required the fol- 
lowing additional items of information to be comprised in such 
annual reports of the Town Superintendents : 

1. The number of times the school in each district has been 
inspected by Town Superintendents, to be taken from the ab- 
stract furnished by the trustees : 

2. The number of volumes in the library of each district, as 
returned by the trustees : 

3. The whole number of school districts, the school houses of 
which are situated in their town : 

4. The amount of money expended in each school district for 
teachers' wages, besides and beyond the public money apportion- 
ed to such district ; that is they will condense from the reports 
of the trustees the amount paid by individuals, on rate-bills or 
otherwise, and the amount collected from any local funds. 

5. The attendance of pupils in the several district schools for 
the following different terms, viz : 

Those who attended less than two months ; 

'' " two months and less than four ; 

' " " four months and less than six ; 

" " six months and less than eight ; 

'* " eight months and less than ten ; 

" " ten months and less than twelve ; 

" " twelve months ; 

6. The amount of taxes levied in the several districts of the 
town during the year reported for purchasing sites, building, 
hiring, repairing and insuring school houses, fuel, books, book- 
case, school apparatus and other purposes : 

7. The number of select and private schools in their towH, 
other than incorporated seminaries, and the average number of 
pupils therein, as stated in the reports of the trustees of the several 
districts : 

8. They are also required to condense, from the reports of the 
several trustees, the number of schools for colored children taught 
in their town, specifying the districts in which such schools- have 
been taught, the number of colored children, between the ages of 



166 

four and twentj-one attending such schools ; and the amount of 
public money apportioned to the respective districts from which 
such children attended, specifying such districts. 

The most common mistake committed by the Town Superin- 
tendents is in their report of moneys received by them, or their 
predecessors, since the date of the last report. They often ' con- 
found this money with that received by trustees of districts, which 
is an entirely different item. This last item is received on the 
first Tuesday of April, and reported by the trustees on the first 
of January following, and is embodied in the report of the su- 
perintendent among the abstracts of the trustees' reports, in the 
columns headed " amount of money received in each district." 
But the money received by the Town Superintendents is that paid 
to them by the county treasurer and town collector after the first 
of January, and apportioned by them on or before the first Tues- 
day in April, and is not contained in the reports of the trustees. 

In making their annual reports, the Town Superintendents 
should see that the several columns of their table are correctly 
footed, and the figures plainly and distinctly made. 

Town Superintendents neglecting to make such report within 
the limited period, forfeit severally to their town, for the use of 
the common schools therein, the sum of ten dollax's ; and the 
share of school moneys apportioned to such town for the ensuing 
year, may, in the discretion of the Superintendent of Common 
Schools, be withheld, and be distributed among the other towns 
in the same county, from which the necessary reports shall have 
been received. When the share of school moneys apportioned to 
a town shall thus be lost to the town by the neglect of the Town 
Superintendents, the officer guilty of such neglect forfeits to 
his town the full amount, with interest, of the moneys so lost. It 
is the duty of the supervisor of the town, upon notice of such loss, 
from the Superintendent of Common Schools, or county treasurer, 
to prosecute without delay in the name of the town, for such fov- 
feiture ; and the moneys recovered are required to be distributed 
and paid by such supervisor to the several districts, parts of dis- 
tricts, or separate neighborhoods of the town, in the same manner 
as it would have been the duty of the Town Superintendent to 
have distributed and paid them, if received from the county trea- 
surer.— § 22, 23, 24. (No. 47, 48, 49.) 

By § 15, of chap. 382, Laws of 1849, it is provided that "when- 
ever it shall be satisfactorily proved to the State Superintendent 
that any county or town superintendent, or other school officers, 
has embezzled the public money, or any money coming into his 
hands for school purposes, or has been guilty of the wilful viola- 
tion of any law, or neglect of duty or of disobeying any decision, 
order or regulation of the Department of Common Schools, the 
State Superintendent is authorised to remove such officer from 
such ofiice, by an order under the seal of office of the Secretary 
of State. 



167 

V. PENALTIES AND FORFEITURES TO BE COLLECTED BY TOWN 
SUPERINTENDENTS. 

By subdivision 8 of § 8, Rev. Stat. (No. 33,) the Town Super- 
intendent is to sue for and collect by his name of office, all pen- 
alties and forfeitures imposed by the title relating to common 
schools, where no other provision is made ; for the penalty of five 
dollars prescribed by § 57, (No. 79,) upon the refusal or neglect of 
any inhabitant of a district to serve the notice of the first meeting ; 
the same penalty for altogether refusing to serve in a district office ; 
and the penalty often dollars for neglecting to perform the duties 
of a district office, not having refused to accept the same ; and for 
the penalty of S25, against Trustees neglecting or refusing an- 
nually to render an account of the moneys received by them, given 
by §130 (No. 150j of the school act. 

He is also to prosecute for the penalty ' of twenty -five dollars 
imposed by §123 (No. 143,) upon every trustee who signs a false 
report, with the intent of obtaining an unjust proportion of the 
school moneys of the town. Justice to the several districts re- 
quires that the Town Superintendents should be vigilant in def- 
lecting such errors, and in applying the remedy provided by law 
in all cases where they arise from design. 

The sums collected by him in suits for penalties, after deduct- 
ing his costs and expenses, are to be added to the school moneys 
received by him during the year, and apportioned among the 
several districts. 

VI. MISCELLANEOUS DUTIES. 

By § 25, (No. 50,) and the succeeding sections, the Town Su- 
perintendent in each town is required to keep a just and true ac- 
count of all school moneys received and expended by him during 
the year for which he shall have been chosen, and to lay the same 
before the board of auditors of the accounts of other town officers 
at the annual meeting of such board in the same year. Within 
fifteen days after the termination of his office he is required to 
render to his successsor in office a just and true account, in writing, 
of all school moneys by him received, before the time of render- 
ing such account, and of the manner in which the same shall have 
been appropriated and expended by him ; and the account so 
rendered is to be delivered by such successor in office to the town 
clerk, to be filed and recorded in his office. If, on rendering such 
account, any balance shall be found remaining in the hands of the 
Town Superintendent, the same is immediately to be paid by him 
to his successor in office. If such balance, or any part thereof, 
shall have been appropriated by the Town Superintendent to any 
particular school district, part of a district or separate neighbor- 
hood, and shall remain in his hands for the use thereof, a state- 
ment of such appropriation is required to be made in the account 
so to be rendered, and the balance paid to such successor in office, 
to be paid over by him, according to such appx'opriation. His 
successor in office may bring a suit in his name of office, for the 



168 

recovery, with interest, of any unpaid balance of school money? 
that shall appear to have been in the hands of any previous Town 
Superintendent on leaving his office, either by the accounts render- 
ed by such Town Superintendent, or by other sufficient proof. In 
ease of the death of such Town Superintendent, such suit may be 
brought against his representatives, and all moneys recovered are 
to be applied in the same manner as if they had been paid over 
without suit. 

By § 30, the Town Superintendent of common schools in each 
town, has the powers and privileges of a corporation, so far as to 
enable him to take and hold any property transferred to him for 
the use of common schools in such town, 

A mere transfer of vouchers or receipts, by a Town Super- 
intendent, on the expiration of his official term, is not such an 
account as the law contemplates. There must be a written state- 
ment of the amount of moneys received, appropriated and ex- 
pended by him ; and this statement must be filed and recorded 
by the town clerk. — Com. School Dec. 189. 

' The written approbation of the Town Superintendent to be en- 
dorsed on the warrant is, by the 1 13th section of the act of 1843, 
(No. 133) made requisite to the validity of any seconder sub- 
sequent renewal of a school district warrant for the collection of 
a tax list or rate bill. This approbation should be granted only 
where a satisfactory excuse is shown for the omission to collect 
the amount specified in the warrant within the time prescribed 
by law, and extended by one renewal. Taxes and rate bills 
should be promptly collected ; and in ordinary cases sixty days 
affords ample time for this purpose ; and further indulgence 
should in no case be granted excepting under special and pecu- 
liar circumstances. 

By § 70 (No. 92) of the school act, it is provided that " no 
tax to be voted by any district meeting, for building, hiring or 
purchasing a school house shall exceed the sum of four hundred 
dollars, unless the Town Superintendent of common schools of 
the town in which the school-house is to be situated, shall certify 
in writing, his opinion that a larger sum ought to be raised, and 
shall specify the sum ; in which case, a sum not exceeding the 
sum so specified shall be raised." And by §1 of chap. 44, Laws 
of 1831, Sec. 73, (No. 95,j " Whenever a school house shall 
have been built or purchased for a district, the site of such school 
house shall not be changed, nor the building thereon be removed, 
as long as the district shall remain unaltered, unless by the con- 
sent, in writing, of the Town Superintendents of Common 
Schools, of the town or towns within which such district shall be 
situated, stating that in their opinion such removal is necessary ; 
nor then, unless a majority of all the taxable inhabitants of said 
district lo be ascertained by taking and recording the ayes and 
noes at a special meeting called for that purpose, shall vote for 
such removal and in favor of such new site." 



169 

A majority of the taxable inhabitants who are legal voters in 
the d'lsinci, p7-esent and voting at such special meeting is suffi- 
cient, in conjunction with the written certificate of the Town 
Superintendent to authorize a change of site in an altered dis- 
trict. 

Town Superintendents are bound to furnish answers to all 
appeals brought from any of their proceedings. — Com. School 
Dec. 187. 

Where a school district is established by the State Super- 
intendent on appeal, Town Superintendents have no power 
to alter, modify or dissolve the same, without express authority 
from the State Superintendent; nor can they, without such 
authority, re-establish a district, or re-publish an order after their 
proceedings in the same matter have once been set aside on 
appeal. 

Where any school district office is vacated by the death, re- 
fusal to serve, removal out of tUt district, or incapacity of any 
officer, and the vacancy occasioned thereby shall not be supplied 
by a district meeting, within one month thereafter, the Town 
Superintendent may appoint any person residing in the district to 
supply such vacancy, § 77 (No. 98.) If, however, the district, 
by election, fills the vacancy after the expiration of the month, 
and prior to the action of the Town Superintendent, such elec- 
tion is valid, and the Town Superintendent cannot subsequently 
make an appointment. — Com. School Decisions, 179. 

By § 146 of the act of 1847, (No. 169) it is provided that «In 
any suit which shall hereafter be commenced against Town Super- 
intendents of Common Schools, or officers of school districts, for 
any act performed by virtue of, or under color of, their offices, or 
for any refusal or omission to perform any duty enjoined by law, 
and which might have been the subject of an appeal to the Super- 
intendent, no costs shall be allowed to the plaintiff in cases where 
the court shall certify that it appeared on the trial of the cause that 
the defendants acted in good faith. But this provision shall not 
extend to suits for penalties, nor to suits or proceedings to enforce 
the decisions of the Superintendent." 

By § 6 of chap. 330 of laws of 1839, § 145, (No. 168) "Town 
Superintendents of common schools, and trustees and clerks of 
school districts, refusing or wilfully neglecting to make any report, 
or to perform any other duty required by law, or regulations or 
decisions made under the authority of any statute, shall severally 
forfeit to their town, or to their district, as the case may be, for 
the use of the common schools therein, the sum of ten dollars for 
each such neglect or refusal, which penalty shall be sued for and 
collected by the supervisor of the town, and paid over to the prop- 
er officers, to be distributed for the benefit of the common schools 
in the town or district to which such penalty belongs ; and when 
the share of school or library money apportioned to any town or 



170 

district, or any portions thereof, or any money to which a town or 
school district would have been entitled, shall be lost in conse- 
quence of any wilful neglect of official duty by any town superin- 
tendent of common schools, or trustees or clerks of school districts, 
the otiicers guilty of such neglect shall forfeit to the town or dis- 
trict the lull amount with interest, of the moneys so lost ; and 
they shall be jointly and severally liable for the payment of such 
forfeiture." 

By § 72 (No. 94) It is provided that "in every case where a 
district embraces a part of more than one town, the town superin- 
tendents of the towns so in part embraced, upon application of the 
trustees of such districts, or of those persons liable to pay taxes 
upon real property therein, shall proceed to enquire and determine 
whether the valuation of real property upon the several assessment 
rolls of said towns are substantially just as compared with each 
other, so far as such district is concerned, and if determined not to 
be so, they shall determine the relative proportion of taxes that 
ought to be assessed upon the real property of the parts of such 
districts so lying in different towns, and the trustees of such district 
shall thereupon ixssess the proportion of any tax thereafter to be 
raised according to the determination of said superintendents until 
the same shall be altered by said superintendents until the same 
shall be altered by said superintendents upon like application, using 
the assessment rolls of the several towns to distribute the said pro- 
portion among the persons liable to be assessed for the same. In 
cases where two superintendents shall be unable to agree, they 
shall summon a superintendent from some adjoining town, who 
shall unite in such inquiry and determination." 

Town superintendents are not within the class of public officers 
required by the Constitution to take the oath of office. 

FORMS PEESCRIBED AND EECOMMENDED BY THE 
SUPERINTENDENT OF COMMON SCHOOLS FOR 
THE USE OF TOWN SUPERINTENDENTS. 

1. FOEM OF BOND TO BE GUTEX BY THE TO"WN SUPERINTEND- 
ENT TO THE SUPEEVISOE. 

Know all men by these presents, that we A. B., C. D,, and E. 

F., of the town of in the county of are held and 

firmly bound to J. K. Esq., Supervisor of said town, in the penal 
sum of [double the amount of school money received in said town 
from all sources during the preceding year,] to be paid to the 
said J. K. or his successor in office ; to the which payment, well 
and truly to be made, we bind ourselves and our legal representa- 
tives, jointly and severally, tirmly by these presents. Witness our 
hands and seals this day of June, 1S51. 

Whereas, the said A. B. has been duly elected [or appointed] 
Town Superintendent of Common Schools for the said town of 



171 

: Now therefore, the condition of this obligation is such, 

that if the said A. B. shall faithfully apply and legally disburse, 
all the school money which may come into his hands during his 
term of office as such Town Superintend^ nt, and faithfully dis- 
charge all the duties of said office, then this obligation to be null 
and void ; otl)ervvise to remain in full force and virtue. 

Signed sealed and deliv- \ A. B. [l. s.] 

ered in presence of > CD. [l. s.] 

J E. F. [l. s ] 

(Endorsement.) " I hereby approve of C. D. and E. F. as sure- 
ties to the within bond." J. K. 

2. FORM OF A RESOLUTION CREATING A NE"W DISTRICT. 

At a meeting, &c. 

Resolved, That a new school district be formed, to consist of 
[the present Districts Nos. 1 and 2 ; or of the present District No. 
1 and a part of District No 2 ; or parts of Districts No. 1 and 
No. 2, as the case may be.] which said new district shall be num- 
bered [23,] and shall be bounded as follows : [on the north by 
the north tine of the town of Trenton : on the east by the east- 
erly line of the farms and lots of land now occupied by Thomas 
Jones, William Thomas, &c. : on the south by the south line of 
lots No. 56, 57 and 58, as designated on the map of said town : 
and on the west by the westerly line of the farms and lots now oo*- 
cupiee by A, B, C, D, &,c.] 

The formation of the aforesaid district, mvolving an alteration 
of District No. [1 and No, 2,] the consent of the trustees of the 
said districts to such alteration has been presented to the Town 
Superintendent, and filed with the town clerk. [Or, if such con- 
sent has not been given, the following entry should be made : The 
formation of the aforesaid district, involving an alteration of dis- 
tricts No. 1 and 2, and the consent of the trustees of District No. 
] to such alteration not having been given, it is ordered that a no- 
tice in writing of the said alteration, signed by the Town Super- 
intendent, be served on one of the trustees of the said district.] 
If the order is made between the first day of December, in any 
year, and the first day of May thereafter, the following clause 
should be added, viz : " This order will take effect on the first 
day of May next, [or on some subsequent day to be specified.] 

2. The consent of the trustees of the altered districts may be 
given by endorsing it on a copy of the order, as follows : 

We hereby consent to the alteration made in District No. 2, in 
the town of Trenton, by the order of which the within is a copy. 

Dated, &c. 

A B 'i 

r.' rk ' Trustees of district 



172 

This consent, like all other acts of trustees, should be given at 
a meeting of the whole, or a majority, when all have been notified 
to attend. The statute does not require it to be in writing; but it 
is advisable to prevent disputes, that a written consent should be 
filed with the town clerk. 

3. FORM OF NOTICE TO TRUSTEES NOT GIVING THEIR CONSENT TO 
AN ALTERATION OF THEIR DISTRICT. 

The Trustees of District No. 1, in the town of Trenton will 
take notice that an order was made this day by the Town Super- 
intendent of Common Schools of the said town, of which the fol- 
lowing is a copy, by which certain alterations in the said district 
are made, as will appear by the said order; and that such altera- 
tions will take effect after three months from the service of this 
notice. [If the expiration of the three months occur between the 
first day of December and May, then some day subsequent to the 
to the thirtieth of April should be specified.] Dated, &c. 

G. H., Toion Superintendent of Common 

Schools of the town of Trenton. 
[Here insert copy of order of Town Superintendent.] 
This notice may be served on any one of the trustees ; and it 
will be found usetul to have an acknowledgment of the service 
by the trustees receiving the notice, endorsed on a copy of it and, 
filed with the town clerk. 

4. NOTICE OF THE FIRST MEETING IN A DISTRICT TO ORGANIZE. 

This is required by law to be given within twenty day, aftet 
the formation of any district. If the consent of the trustees of the 
districts interested, has been given to the alterations covered by 
the order, then the notice should be for a day as early as may al- 
low sufficient time for general information. But if it be necessa- 
ry to give notice of the alterations to the trustees of any district, 
then the notice for the first meeting should specify a day subse- 
quent to the expiration of three months after service of the notice 
of alteration, because the district cannot organize until after that 
time. 

The notice may be in the following form : 
To , a taxable inhabitant of District no 23, in the town 

of Trenton. 

The town Superintendent of Common Schools of the town of 
Trenton, having by an order, of which the following is a copy, 
formed a new district in the said town to be numbered 23, con- 
sisting of the territory particularly specified in the said order ; 
you are hereby required toTiotify every inhabitant of the said dis- 
trict qualified to vote at district meetings, to attend the first dis- 
trict meeting of the said district, which is hereby appointed to be 
beld at the house of in the said town, on the day of 

next, at 6 o'clock in the afternoon, by reading this noti«« 



173 

in the hearing of each such inhabitant, or in case of his absence 
from home, by leaving a copy of this notice, or of so much there- 
of as relates to the time and place of such meeting, at least six 
days before the said time so appointed for the said meeting. Da- 
ted, &c. 

A. 8., Toicn Superintendent of Common 

Schools of the town o/" Trenton. 

A copy of the order forming the district should be annexed to 
this notice, as the most convenient modeof describing the district, 
and most likely to prevent errors. 

The inhabitant serving the notice should keep a memorandum 
of the names of the persons notified by him, specifying the man- 
ner of notifying, whether by reading or leaving a copy, or the sub- 
stance of the notice, at the place of abode of any absent voter ; 
and this memorandum, certified by him, should be delivered lo 
the chairman or clerk of the district meeting and read, that it may 
be ascertained whether notice has been duly given so as to justi- 
fy the voters in proceeding to the transaction of business ; and the 
origmal notice and return should be filed with the district clerk, 
as evidence of the regularity of the organization. 

7. FORM OF A RESOLUTION FOR THE ALTERATION OF A DISTRICT. 

At a meeting of, &c., 

Resolved, That districts nujnber I and number 2, in the said 
town, be altered as follows, viz: by setting off the farms and 
parcels of land occupied by Johji Broion, Thomas Jones, and 
William Richards, from District number one, in which they 
have heretofore been included to District number two ; so that 
the east boundary of District number one shall be the easterly 
line of the farms and parcels of lands occupied by A. B. C. D. 
&,c., and the westerly boundary of district number two shall be 
the westerly lines of the farms and parcels of land occupied by 
the said John Brown, Thomas Jones and William Richards ; 
the said John Brown having consented to be set off as aforesaid. 
The written consent of the trustees of the said districts number 
one and two, having been presented to the Town Superin- 
tendent, is filed with the town clerk ; [or. The consent of the 
trustees of the said districts respectively, (or of district No. I or 
2, as the case may be,) not having been given to the said altera- 
tion, it is ordered that a notice in writing of such alteration 
signed by the Town Superintendent, be served on some one 
of the trustees of each of the said districts, (or of district No. 
1 or 2.)] 

In the above form, it will be seen that the new boundaries of 
the districts, caused by the alteration, are given. This is deemed 
very necessary in order to prevent all mistake or ambiguity, and 
to preserve a continual record of the actual bounds of the districts. 
If any of the persons set off consent to the alteration, it should be 
stated, so that the trustees may know whether he is taxable for 
buildiflff a school-house. 



174 

The consent of trustees to the alteration, and in case of their 
not consenting, the notices to them, will be as before given under 
the 2d and 3d heads. 

8. PROCEEDINGS IN THE FORMATION OR ALTERATION OF A JOINT DIS- 

TRICT, FROM TWO OR MORE TOWNS. 

The proceedings in the formation of a joint district will be in 
all respects similar to those previously given in relation to ordi- 
nary cases, with the following additions : 

As there is no clerk assigned by law to the joint meeting, the 
officers present should sign the proceedings. 

The caption should give the names of the towns to which the 
Town Superintendents belong ; and the resolutions should be re- 
corded in each of those towns. 

9. FORM OF CERTIFICATE TO TEACHER BY TOWN SUPERINTENDENT. 

I hereby certify that I have examined A. B. and do believe that 
he [or she] is well qualified, in respect to moral character, learn- 
inor and ability, to instruct a common school in this town for one 
year from the date hereof 

Given under my hand at this day of 18 

C. D., Town Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools for the town of 

10. FORM OF INSTRUMENT ANNULLING A TEACHER-'s CERTIFICATE. 

Having enquired into certain complaints against A. B., hereto- 
fore licensed as a teacher of common schools of said town, and 
being of opinion that he, the said A. B., does not possess the re- 
quisite qualifications as a teacher, in respect to moral character, 
[or " in respect to learning," or " in respect to ability in teach- 
ing," as the case may be,] and having given at least ten days pre- 
vious notice in writing to said teacher, and to the trustees of the 
district in which he is employed, of the intention so to do, I have 
annulled and hereby do annul the said certificate and license so 
granted as aforesaid. 

Given under my hand this day ot 18 

C. D., Toion Superintendent 

of Common Schools. 

As a note in writing, containing the name of the teacher, and 
the time when his certificate was annulled, must be filed in the 
town clerk's office, to give it effect, the most convenient and ef- 
fectual mode of complying with the law, will be to make out, sign 
and file a duplicate of the instrument itself 

11. FORM OF THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TOWN SUPERINTENDENT 
OF COMMON SCHOOLS, TO BE MADE TO THE COUNTY CLERK. 

I, A. B. Town Superintendent of common Schools of the town 
of in the county of in conformity with the statutes 

in relation to common schools, do report : that the number of en- 



175 

tire school districts in said town, organized according to law, is 
[^eight,^ and that the number of parts of school districts in said 
town is [Jive'] ; that the number of joint districts, the school-hous- 
es of which are situated wholly or partially in said town, is \_tliree] ; 
that he number of entire districts from which the necessary re- 
ports have been made for the present year, within the time limit- 
ed by law, is [^eight,'] and the number of parts of districts from 
which such reports have been made is [Jive.'] That the number 
of schools for colored children taught by said town during the 
year aforesaid, for six months or upwards, by a duly qualified 
teacher, was \_two.] 

And I do further certify and report, that the whole amount of 
money received by me, or my predecessors in office, for the use of 
common schools, during the year ending on the date of this re- 
port, and since the date of the last report of said town, is § 
of which sum the part received from the county treasurer is -S 
the part from is S and that we have collected the 

sum of for penalties (if any has been collected) [and if there 
be any other source from which any part has been received, here 
state it particularly.] That the said sum of money has been ap- 
propriated to the several districts from which the necessary re- 
ports were received, for the purposes and in the proportion follow- 
ing, viz : the sum of § for the payment of teachers' wages, 
and the sum of $ for the purchase of district libraries. That 
of the monies so apportioned, there has been paid over to or on the 
order of the trustees of the several districts entitled theveto, the 
sum of dollars and cents for teachers' wages, and dol- 
lars and cents of the library money ; and that the balance of 
said monies so apportioned and not paid over, is now in my hands 
amounting in the aggregate to dollars and cents, and ready 
to be paid according to law. That the sum of S was appor- 
tion by me to district No. for colored children in said dis- 
trict between the ages of four and 21 years, who have attended a 
school in district No. in said town, by a duly qualified teacher, 
for six months during the preceding year ; and k to district 
No. for colored children attending in said district ; and 
that I have deducted the said several amounts from the sums by 
me apportioned to the said districts No. and respectively. 
And I further certify that during the year before mentioned, I 
have not collected any fines, penalties or forfeitures : [or. And I 
further certify that during the year before mentioned, I have col- 
lected a penalty of S25, imposed on A. B. a trustee of district No. 
in said town, for signing a false report ; and that my costs 
and charges in such collection amounted to S ; and the 
balance of such penalty "was by me added to the school money 
received by me and apportioned as above mentioned.] That the 
school books most in use in the common schools of said town are 
the following, viz : [here sjiecify the principal books reported by 
the several trustees.] And I further certify the tables following, 



176 



to be true abstracts from the reports of the trustees of the several 
districts and parts of districts as aforesaid : 



^_ js a ,„ q3 1 






Amount of money re-j 


w 


^ -^ ■„ a 


Whole len 


0-th of 


[jeniarth of time 


ceived by districts. 


% 


*^ §.2 


time any 
has been 


school 
kept 


3Vich school has 
seen kept by li- 








For teach- 1 For Libra- 


00 rt- 


+^ s^ -i S 

CJ -4-3 1-^ ,0 


therein. 




censed teachers, ers wages | ries. j 


P 

No. . . . 


-t^ --C r^ >• 








Dols. Cts. 


Dols. Cts. 


Montlis, 


Days. 


Months. Days. 
3 


1 


6 


10 SO. 5 15 




2 


4 




4 




17 88. 8 94 


a 


3 


8 


12 


8 


12 


15 76. 1 88 


ai 


4 


s 




4 




21 51. 10 16 


s 


5 


6 




6 




21 21. 10 62 


H 


6 


4 




4 




16 06. 8 04 


F 


7 


4 




4 




11 51, 5 16 




8 


9 
10 


12 


4 
10 


6 


14 54. 1 27 
9 10. 4 85 




9 


III 03 

s 3 


10 


6 




3 




4 55.| 2 21 


11 


6 




6 




8 48. 


4 24 


Si^ 


12 


3 


5 


3 


5 


8 18. 


4 09 


S3 


13 


8 




8 




8 79. 


4 S9 


Total, 


13 


1 83 


35 


1 65 


23 


168 41 


84 26 



[Continuation of Table on next page.'] 



177 



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12 



i7fe 

CHAPTER III. 

POWERS AND DUTIES OF INHABITANTS OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

By § 65 (No. 87) of the school act, it is provided that " an annual 
meeting shall be held at the time and place previously appointed ; 
and at the first district meeting, and at each annual meeting, the 
time and place of holding the next annual meeting shall be fixed." 

Annual meetings need not be precisely one year apart. The 
time may be a few days or weeks more or less than a year, if the 
inhabitants think it necessary. For instance, an annual meeting 
held on the^rs^ Tuesday of October may be adjourned to the 
second Tuesday of October of the next year. The propriety of the. 
act in every case must depend upon the circumstances attending 
it. No .Teneral rule as to the extent of the variation from a year 
can belaid down as applicable to all cases. — Com. School Dec, 

289. 

It is proper, however, to observe, that as by the act of 1843 
one trustee only is hereafter to be annually elected, who holds his 
office for three years, and as in case of a vacancy, such vacancy is 
to be supplied only for the unexpired term left vacant, the variations 
i«n the time of holding the annual meeting ought not to exceed 
three or four weeks. The time from one annual meeting to 
another must always be considered and treated as one year. 

By § 66 of the act of (No. 88,) " Whenever the time for hold- 
ino- annual meetings in a district, for the election of district officers 
shall pass without such election being held, a special meeting shall 
be notified by the clerk of such district to choose such officers ; and 
if no such notice be given by him or the t^-ustees last elected or 
appointed, within twenty days after such time shall have passed, 
any inhabitant of such district qualified to vote at district meetings, 
may notify such meeting in the manner provided by law in case 
of the formation of a new district ; and the officers chosen at any 
such special meeting, shall hold their office until the time for hold- 
ing the next annual meeting." 

By § 67 of Laws of 1847, (No. 89,) "When the clerk, and all 
the trustees of a school district, shall have removed, or otherwise 
vacated their office, and where the records of a district shall have 
been destroyed or lost, or where trustees neglect or refuse to call 
meetings to choose trustees, the Superintendent of Common Schools 
shall have authority to order such meetings." 

By § 68 fNo. 90,) " When in consequence of the loss of the 
records of a school district, or the omission to designate the day 
for its annual meeting, there shall be none fixed, or it cannot be 
ascertained, the trustees of such district may appoint a day f6r 
holding the annual meeting of such district." 

If an annual meeting is held at the time and place appointed at 
or adjourned from the annual meeting of the preceding year, the 
proceedings will be deemed valid, notwithstanding the omission of 
the clerk to give the notices prescribed by law. 



179 

Where the place and time of day for holding the annual meet- 
ing are not designated by the inhabitants, the usual place and 
time of day for holding such meetings will be understood, and the 
notices of the clerk siiould correspond thereto. When assembled, 
the inhabitants may adjourn to any other convenient place ; but the 
clerk cannot, in his notices for the annual meeting, designate any 
other than the usual place for holding such meeting, where the in- 
habitants at their last annual meeting omitted to specify any place. 
— Com. School Dec. 129, 141. 

The law has not specified what number of inhabitants shall 
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at a district 
meeting, annual or special : and accordingly the proceedings, if 
otherwise regular, will not be disturbed by reason of the paucity 
of attendance on the part of the inhabitants, where the notice has 
been fair and public, and there is no room for the allegation of 
surprise. A reasonable time, should, however, be allowed for the 
inhabitants to assemble, after which those in attendance may legal- 
ly proceed to the transaction of any district business. 

By § 69 (No. 91) it is provided that -'a special meeting shall 
be held in each district whenever called by the trustees ; and the 
proceedings of no district meeting, annual or special, shall be held 
illegal, for want of a due notice to all the persons qualified to vote 
thereat, unless it shall appear that the omission to give such notice 
was v>'i[ful and fraudulent." 

This latter provision was intended for cases where through ac- 
cident or mistake, the proper legal notice has not been given io 
all who are entitled to it: but it cannot be construed to extend to 
cases in which no attempt is made to give the notice required by 
law to any of the inhabitants. Where the clerk of a disirict un- 
dertakes to give a notice in the manner provided by the statute, 
and has failed, unintentionally, to serve such notice on all the per- 
sons entitled to receive it, or where such notice is imperfectly 
served, the proceedings of the meeting will not be void on that 
account. They may, however, be set aside on appeal, on showing 
sufficient cause. — Com. School Dec. 186,223. 

The law in terms, prescribes that the object for which a special 
meeting is called shall be stated in the notice for such meeting. 

The opportunities afforded by the coming together of the in- 
habitants of each district, for deliberation and consultation in re- 
lation to their schools, and the various interests connected there- 
with, are calculated to e.xert a most beneficial influence in favor 
of education ; to promote union, harmony and concert of action in 
the several districts ; and to cement the ties of friendly social in- 
tercourse between those having a common interest in the moral 
and intellectual culture of their children. It is, therefore, of the 
utmost importance that they should not be neglected ; that the in- 
habitants should be prompt and uniform in their attendance ; and 
that the proceedings should be invariablv characterized with that 
order, regularity dignity and decorum which can alone command 



180 

respect and efficiently attain the objects to be accomplislied. To 
secure as far as possible the attainment of these desirable ends, it i& 
proposed in this place to examine the powers and duties of the inhab- 
itants, when assembled in district meeting, the mode of proceeding 
the keeping of the minutes and records, the qualifications of voters'' 
and some other subjects of general interest, connected with the' 
proceedings of district meetings. 

1. POWERS AND DUTIES OF INHABITENTS AVHEN ASSEMBLED 
IN DISTRICT MEETING. 

These are particularly specified in § 62, (No. 84) of the act, 
and will be noticed in their proper order. They are, to appoint 
a moderator ; to adjourn from time to time as occasion may require ; 
to choose district officers at their first meeting upon the organiza- 
tion of the district, and as often as vacancies occur, by expiration 
of the term of office or otherwise ; to designate a site for district 
school-houses ; to lay such tax on the taxable inhabitants of the 
district as the meeting shall deem sufficient to purchase or lease a 
suitable site for a school-house, and to build, hire, or purchase such 
school-house, and to keep in repair and furnish the same with nec- 
essary fuel and appendages ; and to repeal, alter and modify their 
proceedings from time to as occasion may require. 

By the 10th section of the act of 1841, sub. 8. (No. 84,) the 
inhabitants are authorized, with the consent of the Town Super- 
intendent of common schools, to designate sites for two or more 
school houses for their district, and to lay a tax for the purchase 
or lease thereof, and for the purchase, hiring or building of school 
houses thereon, and the keeping in repair and furnishing the same 
with necessary fuel and appendages. 

This provision authorizing more than one site and school house, 
is intended for the accommodation of those districts that may be 
so peculiarly situated as to render a division inconvenient or not 
desirable. A banking or other corporation, or some manufacturing 
establishment liable to taxation, may thus be rendered beneficial 
to a large territory and a greater number of inhabitants, instead 
of having its contributions applied for the benefit of a few. And 
in populous places, it may often be convenient to have a school 
for very young children distant from that attended by those more 
advanced. In these and other cases, the districts should not 
hesitate to exercise the power given by this section. But they 
should in all cases obtain the previous assent of the Town Super- 
intendent. 

The same section authorizes the inhabitants, in their discretion 
and without the assent of the Town Superintendent, to levy a tax 
not exceeding twenty dollars in any one year, for the purchase 
of maps, globes, black-boards and other school apparatus. The 
principal facts in geography are learned better by the eye than in 
any other manner, and there ought to be in every school-room a 
map of the world, of the United States, of this state and of the 



181 

county. Globes also are desirable, but not so important as maps. 
Large black-boards, in frames or plaster are indispensable to a well 
conducted school. The operations in arithmetic performed on them, 
enable the teacher to ascertain the degree of the pupils' acquire- 
ments, better than any result exhibited on slates. He sees the 
various steps taken by the scholar, and can require him to give 
the reason for each. It is in fact an exercise for the entire class ; 
and the whole school, by this public process, insensibly acquires 
a knowledge of the rules and operations in this branch of study. 

Cards containing the letters of the alphabet, or words, may be 
usefully hung up in the room. Indeed the whole apparatus pro- 
vided by Mr. Holbrook and others, is eminently calculated to 
facilitate the acquisition of knowledge and to render it agreeable. 

The amount of the tax which may be voted for the purchase or 
lease of sites for the district school-house, and for the repairs, fur- 
niture, fuel and appendages, is left wholly to the discretion of the 
district, and is unlimited by law: but no tax for building, hiring 
or purchasing a school house can exceed the sum of four hundred 
dollars, unless on the certificate of the Town Superintendent that a 
larger sum, specifying the amount, ought, in his opinion, to be rais- 
ed; in which case a sum not exceeding the sum so specified, may be 
raised. § 70 (No. 92,) If the district under the act of 1841, raise 
a tax for building, hiring or purchasing two or more school-houses, 
a tax for each may be levied, to the amount of S400, without a 
certificate from the Town Superintendent. 

Whenever a majority of all the taxable inhabitants who are 
legal voters of any school district, to be ascertained by taking and 
recording the ayes and noes of such inhabitants attending at any 
annual, special or adjourned school district meeting legally called 
or held, determine that the sum proposed and provided to build a 
school house, shall be raised by instalments ; it is the duty of 
the trustees to cause the same to be levied, raised and collected, 
in equal annual instalments, in the same manner, and with the 
like authority that other school district taxes are raised, levied 
and collected, and to make out their tax list and warrant, for the 
collection of such instalments as they become payable according 
to the vote of the said inhabitants ; but the payment or collection 
of the last instalment can not be extended beyond five years from 
the time such vote was taken ; and no vote to levy any such tax 
can be reconsidered except at an adjourned general or special 
meeting to be held within thirty days thereafter, and the same 
majority is required for reconsideration as is required to levy such 
tax. 

By § 71 (No. 93) and § 74 No. 96, the inhabitants are author- 
ized, whenever the site of their school-house has been legally 
changed, to direct the sale of the former site or lot, and the build- 
ings thereon, and appurtenances, or any part thereof, at such 
price and upon such terms as they shall deem most advantageouj 
to the district 



By the T36th section of the act of 1847, (No. 155) it is provid- 
ed that " whenever the number of volumes in ihe district library 
of any district numbering over fifty children between the age of 
four and twenty-one years, shall exceed one hundred and twenty- 
five; or of any disti'icl numbering fifty children or less, between 
the said ages shall exceed one hundred volumes, the inhabitants 
of the district qualified to vote therein, may, at a special or annual 
"ffieeting, duly notified for that purpose, by a majority of votes, ap- 
propriate the whole or any part of the library money belonging to the 
district for the current year, to the purchase of maps, globes, 
hlack-boards, or other scientific apparatus, for the use of the school,^' 
and in every district having the required number of volumes in 
the district library, and the maps, g obes, black-boards and other 
apparatus aforesaid, the said moneys, ivith the approbation if the 
State Superintendent may be applied to the payment of teachers 
wages. 

The object of this enactment is two-fold. It is designed in the 
first instance, to secure to every district at least one hundred 
volumes of suitable books for a district library; and to districts 
numbering over fifty children, one hundred and twenty-five ; and 
in the second, to authorize the inhabitants of any district so sup- 
plied, when duty convened for that special pu pose, to appropriate 
so much of the library fund for the current year, as they may 
think proper, to the purchase of maps, globes, black-boards or 
scientific apparatus, for the use of the school, or to the payment of 
teachers wages when authorized by the State Superintendent. In 
the absence of any such appropriation, or whenever any balance re- 
mains unappropriated, the library money, or such unappropriated 
balance, must be applied to the purchase of books ; and in any 
event, that money must be expended for the one or the other ofthese 
purposes, on or before the first day of October in each year. It is 
respectfully recommended to the inhabitants ofthose districts which 
are already supplied with the requisite number of books, and of others, 
whenever they shall reach the specified number, to avail them- 
selves of the power thus conferred upon them, to supply their 
school with those useful articles of scientific apparatus which so 
materially conduce to the improvement of the pupils. Independ- 
ently of this appropriation, no district should dispense with a 
black-board; and if suitable maps, globes and a few of the more 
simple means of illustrating the elementary truths of science, can 
be superadded, the library money for two or three years cannot 
perhaps be more advantageously appropriated. In the mean time, 
the books on hand can be generally read ; and such additions to 
the library as the growing wants and increased intelligence of the 
district may require, can then be from time to time procured. 
The advice of the Town Superintendent may at all times be had 
as to the most proper and judicious appropriation of the lund lor 
the purposes provided for by the section under consideration 

By the provision of the several acts relative to school diss net 
libraries, (No. 159 et seq.) the inhabitants of the several districts 



183 

are authorized to lay a tax, not exceeding twenty dollars for the 
first year, and ten dollars for each subsequent year, for the pur- 
chase of a district library, consisting of such books as they shall in 
their district meeting direct, and such further sum as they njay 
deem necessary for the purchase of a book-case. 

These provisions, it will be observed, are entirely distinct from 
those which relate to the purchase of books with the public 
moneys provided by the act of 1838. They are confined to such 
books as are obtained by means of a district tax; and wherever 
the inhabitants do not choose to place the latter on the same 
footing with the former, the distinction should be carefully ob- 
serv d. The library directed to be purchased with the public 
money provided for that purpose, is to be selected by the trustees ; 
the inhal)itants have no direct control over such selection ; and 
the rules and regulations for its government are to be prescribed 
by the Superintendent alone ; while the library to be raised by 
tax must consist of such books as the inhabitants in districts 
meeting shall direct ; and the rules and regulations for its man- 
agement may be adopted at such meeting. Still, both classes of 
books may be placed upon substantially the same footing, by a 
general diiection to the trustees as to the books to be purchased, 
and the adoption of the rules and regulations prescribed by the 
Superintendent. 

By ij 141 (No. IGO.) the legal voters in any two or more adjoin- 
ing districts, may, with the approbation of the Superintendent, unite 
their library moneys, as they shall be received or collected, and 
purchase a Joint library for the use of the inhabitants of such dis- 
tricts, to be selected by the trxistees, or such persons as they shall 
designate, and to be placed under the charge of a librarian to be 
appointed by them. 

By section 143 of the same act, (No. 162) the legal voters in 
any district are authorized to direct the trustees to apply to the 
Superintendent to select and forward to the county clerk for the 
use of the district, a lil)rary. 

By sub. 9 of ;< 82, (No. 103.) the power of inhabitants of dis- 
tricts to direct the division of the public (teacher's) money, into 
not exceeding four portions for each year, and to assign and apply 
one of such portions to each term taught during the year by a 
duly qualified teacher, is expressly recognized. 

Where by reason of the inability to collect any tax, there shall 
be a deficiency in the amount raised, the inhabitants of the dis- 
trict in district meeting, are empowered to direct the raising of a 
sufficient sum to supply such deficiency, by tax. — § 84, (No. 
1C5.) 

By § 46, (No. 72) "If the Town Superintendent of common 
schools in any town, shall require in writing, the attendance of 
the Town Superintendents of any other town or towns, at a joint 
meeting for the purpose of altering a school district formed from 
their respective towns, and a major part of the Town Superin- 



184 

tendents notified shall refuse or neglect to attend, the Town Su- 
perintendents attending, by a majority of votes, may call a special 
district meeting of such district, for the purpose of deciding on 
such proposed alteration ; and the decision of such meeting shall 
be as valid as if made by the Town Superintendents of all the 
towns interested, but shall extend no further than to dissolve the 
district formed from such towns." 

The powers conferred upon the inhabitants ot school districts 
must be strictly pursued, and can in no case be exceeded. No 
vote or proceeding of a district meeting can be legal, for which au- 
thority is not expressly or by necessary implication, to be derived 
from the statute. 

2. CHANGE OF SITE OF SCHOOL HOUSE. 

By § 73, (No. 95,) it is provided that " whenever a school- 
house shall have been huilt or purchased for a district, the site of 
such school-house shall not be changed, nor the building thereon 
be removed, as long as the district shall remain unaltered, unless 
by the consent, in writing, of the Town Superintendent of common 
schools, of the town or each of the towns within which such dis- 
trict shall be situated, stating that in their opinion such removal is 
necessary ; nor then, unless a majority of all the taxable inhabi- 
tants of said district to be ascertained by taking and recording the 
ayes and noes at a special meeting of such district called for that 
purpose, shall be in favor of such new site." 

This provision is designed to secure permanency in the location 
of the district school-house, while the circumstances under which it 
was so located remain substantially the same. But when an al- 
teration has taken place in the distinct, since such location, either 
by the addition of new inhabitants, and the consequent annexation 
of new territory, from the adjoining districts, or by the setting off 
of a portion of the inhabitants and territory to some other district, 
then, the reason for the enactment failing, a change of site may be 
voted by a majority of the altered district, in the usual mant»er. 
When the new site is again established, either in this manner, or 
by a two-third vote, as provided in the section above quoted, and a 
house built the same principle again prevails. No further altera- 
tion can be made while the district remains substantially in the 
same condition as when the new site was fixed. 

The alterations here referred to must be such as are made in the 
territorial boundaries of the district Changes of residence by the 
inhabitants removing out of the disti'ict, or the removal of peisons 
into it from other districts, cannot be deemed alterations witliin the 
meaning of the law. while ihe territory remaiu> the same. 

When the district has not been allcrcd, aiKl a change of site is 
proposed, the consent, in writing, of the 'i\nvii Superintendent, as 
above specified is requisite, and in addiiion thereiu, a vote of a 
majority of the taxable inhabitants of tlw. dislrirt who are legal 
voters, present and voting, by ayes and nf>es, JSo taxable inhabi- 



185 

tant who is not a legal voter of the district can vote therein on any 
question ; nor is it necessary that a majority of all the taxable in- 
habitants or legal voters residing in the district should be obtained ; 
but only of a majority of those j9r<?se«< and voting at a meeting 
duly notified. — Per Mougan Supt. April 1851. 

Experience has shown that by far the most fertile sources of 
contention and diificulty in the various school districts, originate 
from the proceedings of the inhabitants connected with the change 
of the site of their school-house. Such a measure should, therefore, 
only be adopted when the convenience and accommodation of the 
inhabitants will be essentially promoted thereby ; when the altered 
situation of the district imperatively requires a change ; and even 
then, the full and hearty concurrence not merely of a clear and 
decided majority of the district, but of the inhabitants generally, 
should be secured, before any final decision is made. There must 
always be a portion of the inhabitants, residing at the extremities 
of the district, who will experience more or less inconvenience, at 
particular seasons of the year, in consequence of their distance 
from the school-house : but it is better that these partial incon- 
veniences should be submitted to, than that tjpey should be trans- 
ferred to others and the whole district plunged into a contention 
Respecting the site. But when, in consequence of the enlargement 
of the boundaries of the district, a change is indispensable, the in- 
habitants should come together in a conciliatory and friendly spirit, 
having no other object in view than the best interests of the dis- 
trict and the convenience of the greatest number : and their action 
should be deliberate and circumspect — reconciling, as far as pos- 
sible, the interests of all, and rejecting every proposition calculated 
to sow the seeds of dissension or disturbance in any portion of the 
district: — bearing in mind that a mere numerical triumph, leaving 
a large minority dissatisfied and irritated, ho\Vever gratifying to 
the successful party, for a time, is but a poor compensation for a 
divided and distracted district, and an embittered and hostile neigh- 
borhood. 

By § 74, (No. 96,) it is provided that whenever the site of a 
school house shall have been changed as herein provided, the in- 
habitants of the district entitled to vote, lawfully assembled at 
any district meeting, shall have power by a majority of the votes 
of those present, to direct the sale of the former site or lot, and 
the buildings thereon, and appurtenances, or any part thereof, at 
such price, and upon such terras as they shall deem most advan- 
tageous to the district ; and any deed duly executed by the 
trustees of such district, or a majority of them, in pui-suance of 
such direction, shall be valid and effectual to pass all the estate or 
interest of such school district in the premises intended to be 
conveyed thereby, to the grantee named in such deed ; and when 
a credit shall be directed to be given upon such sale, for the con- 
sideration money, or any part thereof, the tru-tees are author- 
ized to take in their corporate name, such security by bond 



186 

and mortgage, or otherwise, for the payment thereof, as they shall 
deem best,and to hold the same as a cor[)oration, and account there- 
for to their successors in office and to the district, in the manner 
they are now required by law to account lor moneys received , by 
them; and the ti'ustees of any such district for the time being,, 
may in their name of office, sue for and recover the moneys due 
and unpaid upon any security so talien by them, or their prede- 
cessors in office, with interest and costs. 

By § 75, (No. 97,) all moneys arising from any sale made in 
pursuance of the last preceding section, shall be appropriated to 
the jiaytnent of the expenses incurred in procuring a new site, 
and in removing or erecting a school house, or either of them, so 
far as such application thereof shall be deemed necessary. 

3. DESIGNATION OF SITE OF SCHOnL-HOUSE. 

When the site of a school-house is to be fixed, it should be des- 
ignated with distinctness and precision. It is very common in 
many of the districts to vote a site in general terms, as at or near 
a particular spot, between two points, or by other equally vague de- 
scriptions ; and in some instances, the precise location has been 
left to the discretioif of the trustees, or of a committee appointed 
for that purpose. All this is directly contraty to law. The in- 
habitants in district meeting assembled, are to '■'• designate a site for 
a district school-house," and this designation must be sufficiently 
explicit, and must be described by metes and bounds, or other 
known and pei-manent land marks, to enable the trustees to locate 
the site, and to contract for and receive a title to the same ; and 
the best rule will be to make such a description as would be i*equi- 
red in a deed of the premises. 

4 BUILDING, HIRING, PURCHASING AND REPAIRING OF SCHOOL 
HOUSES, AND PROVIDING FURNITURE AND APPENDAGES. 

When a tax is voted by the inhabitants of a district for building 
a school-house, it is important, not only that the specific amount to 
be rsised should be stated, but if any portion of it is designed to 
be expended in the erection of other appurtenances, such as a 
wood-house, necessary, or fence that those purposes should be spe- 
cifically set forth in the resolution. It would, in all cases, be desi- 
rable that a committee of the inhabitants, consisting of or inclu- 
ding the trustees who are charged by law with the execution of the 
work, should be appointed, to digest and, under the advice of the 
Town Su[)erintendent, mature a full plan for the building, append- 
ages and appurtenances, together with a detailed estimate of the 
expense, and to submit the same at an adjourned meeting for the 
sanction and approval of the district. 

F'rom this proceeding many useful results would follow. The 
trustees would be placed in possession of all the information ne- 
cessary to enable them sufficiently and systematically to discharge 
their duties, in contracting for and superintending the erection of 



187 

the house ; an opportunity would be afforded of obtaining and cora- 
paring the best models of arcliit* cture, and the iiihabitanis would 
be enal^led to discuss at their leisure the several \i\ans submitted, 
and to consult their convenience, taste and accommodation in the 
several details 

Tlie volume of " School Architecture," by the Hon. IIenkt 
Barnard, of Connecticut, will be found exceedingly valuable, in 
the construction or alteration of school-houses, and should, when- 
ever practicable, be consulted. 

The school-house, when built or purchased, should never be per- 
mitted to remain for any length of time out of repair. It is the 
duty of the trustees to keep it in repair, and the district should, 
whenever called upon, provide for the exi)ense. They should also 
see that the school-rooms are properly furni:-hed with fuel, prepared 
for use ; that all the necessary articles of furniture are provided; that 
the seats, desks and other fixtures are in good condition, and that 
the district library, the apparatus for the school, and all the other 
property of the district, is properly taken care of, and such articles 
as aie wanted, promptly furnished. In other words, the district 
should exercise a constant supervision over its officers, and provide 
the means for an efficient discharge of their duties. 

When it is supposed that more than four hundred dollars will 
be necessary to build, hire, or purchase a school-house, care should 
be taken to procure the certificate of the Town Superintendent 
before the tax is voted by the district, as such certificate seems by 
the act and has been held by the department to be indispensable, to 
authorize the vote. If there be a site and house, they >hould be 
sold, and the proceeds applied first to the purchase of the new site, 
and next to the building. And whatever sum is appli<'able to the 
erection or purchase of the school-house must, according to a de- 
cision of the department, go in reduction of the amount which 
the district may vote for a school-house. — (Decisions, p. 183.) 
Thus, if the former site and building sell for 200 dollars, and 50 
dollars be applied to the procuring a new site, the remaining 150 
dollars being applicable to the new house, the district cainiot vote 
a tax of more than 250 dollars for the building, without the con- 
sent of the Town Superintendent. 

The following will be a proper form of a resolution for raising 
a tax for the erection of a school-house : 

llie certificate of the Town Superintendent of common schools 
of the town of having been obtained, that in his opinion 

a larger sum than four hundred dollars ought to be raised for build- 
ing a school-house in the said district, namely, the sum of six hiiri' 
dred dollars, [or whatever the whole sum may be.] 

Resolved, That the said sum of six hundred dollars be rai^^edbj 
tax upon the said district, for the purpose of building a school- 
house therein. * 

The resolution for the purchase of a site should be distinct, and 
may be in the following form : 



188 

Resolved, That the sum of fifty dollars be raised by tax upon 
the said district, for the purchase of the site for a new school-house 
heretofore designated by the legal voters thereof. , 

Either or both of the above taxes may be raised, but cannot 
be expended before a site is purchased and a legal title procu- 
red. 

A tax having been voted to build a school-house, the tax list 
made out and a warrant issued, the collection of the tax cannot be 
suspended by vote of a district meeting. — Com. School Dec, 68. 
But where no proceedings have been had in pursuance of such vote, 
it may be rescinded. — Id, 261. 

Where a tax is voted in express terms, a direction subsequently 
given as to the time and manner of its collection, is void. — Id. 
282. 

Where the inhabitants of a school district authorize the trus- 
tees or any other person to select a site for a school-housp, it is 
not a legal site until subsequently fixed by a vote of the inhabit- 
ants. — Id. 353. 

Where the title to the site of a district school-house fails, a new 
site may be fixed by a majority vote, without the certificate of the 
Town Superintendent.— /c^. 107, 132, 142, 195. 

When the site of the school-house has been fixed, it may be 
changed by a majority of votes, at any time before the school-house 
is built or purchased. — Id. 182. 

In voting a tax to purchsse a site, a sufficient sum may be inclu- 
ded to cover all necessary expenses in perfecting the title to the 
premises. 

The fact that the site of a school-house is covered by a mortgage 
does not affect the validity of the proceedings of a school meeting, 
in votmg to build upon it ; although upon timely application the 
Superintendent might not permit the house to be constructed until 
the lien was removed. 

Where the title to the site of a school-house consists of a lease 
of the ground so long as it shall continue to be used for the purposes 
of a district school, if the inhabitants appropriate the land to any 
other purpose, it reverts to the grantor. 

A contract for the purchase of land intended to be occupied as 
the site for a school-house, is not strictly a lease, although the ven- 
dee may for some purposes be regarded as a tenant. Where such 
a contract is not executed by the performance of its conditions, it 
does not amount to a purchase. But where such conditions have 
been performed, the vendees have an equitable title, and the court 
of chancery would enforce the performance of the contract on the 
part of the vendor. A presumption in favor of such performance 
would, it seems, arise from the circumstance of long possession on 
the part of the district. 

Where a school district has been altered, after the original estab- 
lishment of its site, either by adding to or diminishing from its ter- 
ritoi-y, so that the site is no longer central or convenient, such site 



189 

may be changed by a vote of a majority of the inhabitants of the 
district, at any meeting, annual or special ; but after such change 
has been effected, and a new site established, and a new house built 
or purchased, the site cannot again be changed until some further 
alteration occurs in the boundaries of the district, without the con- 
sent of the Town Supenntendent and a majority of the voters of 
the district, in the mode prescribed by the 73d section of the school 
act, [No. 95.] 

The costs and expenses of a bill in equity to perfect the title to 
the site of a school-house, held under an agreement by the owner 
to convey, may legally be defrayed by a tax to be voted by the dis- 
trict. — Per Young, SupH. 

Where the inhabitants of a school district have, by a vote to that 
effect, authorized the trustees to go on and make repairs, or to do 
any other lawful acts involving an expenditure of money, they will 
be required to save the trustees harmless, if the latter have acted in 
good faith. But where trustees undertake to do any act which 
they are not by law authorized to do, in the absence of any direc- 
tions on the part of the district, it is at their own peril. The inhab- 
itants may ratify their proceedings by a subsequent vote ; but if 
they do not choose to do so, the trustees are without remedy. — Com. 
School Dec. 41, 222. 

A school-house built by subscription may, if under the control of 
the trustees, be kept in repair by a tax on the property of the dis- 
trict. — 7c?. 47. 

There can be no partnership in the erection of a school-house, 
which will prevent the district from controlling it entirely for the 
purposes of the district school. — Id. 201,290. 

No more money can be legally expended on a school-house than 
is necessary for common school purposes. An additional room can 
not be provided for a select school. — Id. 203. 

A tax should not be voted by the inhabitants of a district for re- 
pairing the school-house, where the district has no title to the site, 
and the owner has forbidden the repairs to be made. — Id. 60, 
187. 

Nor should a tax to build a school-house be imposed or expended 
until the district has acquired such an interest in the site as to be 
able to control the house. — Id. 168. 

A tax cannot be raised to build a school-house on a site se- 
lected without legal authority. — Baker v. Freeman, 9 Wendall, 
36. 

Where a school-house is built by subscription, a tax may be voted 
for its pui'chase, if the district has title to the site on which it stands. 
—Id. 193. 

The rule of law is, that the right of property in all permanent 
erections upon lands, resides in the owner of the soil. The latter 
is therefore the legal owner of a school-house erected without his 
permission on his land. But if such school-house was originally 
placed there with his permission,the district has a right to direct its 
removal. — Per Young, Supt, 



190 

The inhabitants of a district niay legally vote a tax to enlarge 
their school house, notwithstandinj? it may already have cost $400, 
without a certificate from the Town Superintendent, — Id. 

Where a school house is so decayed as in the opinion of a 
majority of the district to he no longer suitable for the purposes 
of the school, a tax may be voted in the usual manner for build- 
ing a new one on the same site. — Per Spencer, Sup't. 

Inhabitants of school districts cannot, by a vote to that effect, 
authorize the trustees to provide fuel in any other mode than 
those prescribed by law. — Corn, School Dec. 264, 

Nor can they dispose of any portion of the district property, 
unless in the cases and in the manner specifically pointed out by 
law. 

Although the inhabitants of a district may direct the division of 
the teachers' money for the current year into portions, applicable 
to the respective school terms, they cannot so appropriate the 
money for the succeeding year : nor can they direct such division 
after its appropriation by the trustees on a specific contract with 
a teacher. 

A tax may be levied in a school district to build a Avood house 
and necessary. — Com. School Dec. 21. 

Money cannot be raised by tax in a school district for contin- 
gent purposes. — Id. 233. 

A tax to purchase a district library cannot be voted at a meet- 
ing of which no notice is required to be given : e. g. an adjourned 
meeting, where the adjournment is for a less period than one month. 
■—Id. 286, 

A tax cannot be laid to erect a building to be occupied jointly 
as a school house and a meeting house,— /o?, 290, 

When the whole amount of a tax raised for any additional pur- 
pose is not required for such purpose, the balance may be applied 
by vote of the district to any other authorized object, — Id. 315, 

A tax cannot be voted for arrearages generally, or to reimburse 
trustees or other officers of the district for monej's expended by 
them, unless it appears by the vote that the money is to be ap- 
plied to one of the objects for which taxes may by law bs raised, 
^Id. 316. 

A vote of the district is necessary to raise by tax the excess 
beyond $400 certified to be necessary for building a school-house. 
—Id. 339. 

A tax may be voted for the erection of a fence around the 
school-house lot ; and for a hell. 

5. MODE OF PROCEEDING IN DISTRICT MEETING. 

As a general rule, the punctual attendance of the inhabitants of 
the district should be secured by the organization of the meeting 
at the appointed hour, after making a fair allowance, say ten or 
fifteen minutes, for the variation of time-pieces ; at the expiration 



191 



of which time, those in attendance, whatever may be their num- 
ber, should organize, by the appointment of a moderator. Any 
number of inhabitants, however small, are, as before observed, 
competent to the transaction of the business for which the meeting 
was called ; but if there be only a very small number present, 
it will be advisable to adjourn the meeting. The clerk of the 
district, if present, will act as clerk of the meeting ; and in case 
of his absence, any other inhabitant of the district may be desig- 
nated by the meeting to act as clerk pro tern. The inhabitants 
will then proceed to the transaction of the business for which they 
were convened. 

Where the ofBcers of the disti-ict are to be chosen, the choice 
should be by ballot, separately for each office ; and this mode of 
proceeding should never be dispensed with where there is reason 
to believe any difference of opinion exists as to the proper person 
to I e chosen. Where no such difference of opinion exists, it is 
still better to regard the choice by ballot as the regular mode, and 
when dispensed with in any individual case, it should be done by 
express resolution. All other business of the meeting should be 
transacted by written resolutions, regularly put to vote in the 
customary manner ; and where, for any reason, the result cannot 
be accurately ascertained, the numbers voting for or against any 
resolution should be determined by a count, or by ayes and noes. 
For this pui'pose it would be well for the clerk to have always 
in readiness a list of the legal voters of the district, with a series 
of columns attached, to designate the manner in which each per- 
son votes on any question that may be submitted. When the site 
is to be changed in a district that has not been altered, the law 
specifically requires the vote to be taken by ayes and nays. Such 
list may be in the following form. 



Names of Voters. 



On change of 
site of set'l 
honse. 



Ayes. 



John Morehouse, . . 

Jacob Curti.s 

Thomas Biidd, 

William Carrroll... 

Henry Beltis, 

Frederick HouGrh.. . 



Nayp 



On motion to 
I build school 
I house. ! 



On resolut'n: 
to raise taxi 
of $150. ' 



Ayes. 



Ayes. 


Noes. 






























3 


3 



On resolut'n 
to raise tax 
for apparat. 


Ayes. 


Noes. 






4 


2 



6. MODE OF KEEPING MINUTES AND RECORDS OF THE 
PROCEEDINGS. 

The person acting as clerk should keep accurate minutes of the 
proceedings on loose sheets of paper ; and before the meeting is 
finally adjourned these minutes should be read and approved by 
the meeting, and signed by the moderator and clerk, and after- 
wards transferred into the record book of the district. The foi- 
lowing general form may be used for this purpose : 



192 

Form of Minutes to be kept hy the District Clerh, of proceedings 
■r of District Meetings. 

At a meeting of the legal voters of school district number 
in the town of held pursuant to adjournment, at on the 

day of 18 } \oi'i if it he the annual meeting, say "at an 
annual meeting of S^c., held pursuant to appointment and public 
notice, at," ^c. Or if it be a special meeting, say, " at a special 
meeting of, i^-c, called by the trustees of said district, and pursu- 
ant to special notice, at, ^c. on the day of, ^c.,"^ A 
B. -was chosen moderator, and C. D. was present as district cler 
(or if the clerk be not present, say E. F. was appointed clerk pro. 
tern, the district clerk being absent.) 

Resolved unanimously, {or by a majority of voters present, as 
the case may be,) \Jier-e enter the proceedings of the district in the 
form of resolutions, and loith as much precision and ceHainty as 
possible. '\ 

Where the subject of a change of site in an unaltered district 
has been under discussion, and a determination had by the district, 
in the manner prescribed by law, the proceedings should be par- 
ticularly recorded, in the following form : 

At a meeting of the legal voters of district No. in the town 
of held at the school house, in pursuance of notice to all 

the legal voters therein, on the day of 18 , A. B. was 
chosen moderator, and C. D. was present as district clerk, (or E. 
F. was appointed clerk pro. tem. the district clerk being absent.^ 
The written consent of the Town Superintendent of common 
schools of the town having been read, stating that in his opinion 
the removal of the site of the school house in said district is neces- 
sary : And it having been moved and seconded that the present 
site of the school house in the said district be changed, and that 
the northeast corner of lot No. 10 in the said town, (or of the farm 
now occupied by A. B. on the N. E. corner, formed by the inter- 
section of two certain roads, describing them,) be designated as the 
site of a school house for the said district, and the question taken 
by ayes and noes, it was carried, a majority of all those present 
at such special meeting voting for such removal, and in favor of 
such new site : Those who voted in the affirmative were John 
Morehouse, Thomas Budd, Wm. Carroll and Frederick Hough ; 
those who voted in the negative, were Jacob Curtis and Henry 
Bettis. 

Ayes 4 Noes 2. 

[In stating the ayes and noes, the christian names of the voters, 
should be given.] 

[Or, and the question being taken by ayes and noes, it was lost, 
a majority of all those present at the meeting not voting in i'avor 
thereof. The votes are then to be stated as before.] 

After changing the site of the school house in the manner 
before prescribed, the voters of the district, at the same or any 



193 

subsequent meeting, may pass a resolution, by a majority of those 
present, in the ordinary mode, directing the trustees to sell the 
house, according to No. 96 ante. 

7. QUALIFICATIONS OF VOTERS. 

Great difficulty has been heretofore experienced in ascertaining 
the requisite legal qualilications for voters in school district meet- 
ings. The act of 1847, has removed this difficulty by defining 
them particularly, and has pointed out the means of ascertaining 
the right of any individual to vote in such meetings, by a challenge, 
§59, 60, 61, (Nos. 81, 82, 83.) 

The following general qualifications are required in all cases : 

1. The voter must be a male. 

2. Of full age, that is, twenty-one years old, or more. 

3. He must be an actual resident of the district. 

In addition to the above, the voter must possess one or other of 
the following qualifications : 

4. He must be entitled by law to hold land in this state, and 
must own or hire real property in the district, subject to taxatioa 
for school purposes ; or, 

5. He must be authorized to vote at town meetings of the tow» 
in which the district, or part of a district is situated — and in ad- 
dition thereto must have paid a rate bill for teachers' wages ia 
the district within one year preceding, or must have paid a dis- 
trict tax within two years preceding, or must be owner of personal 
property liable to be taxed for school purposes in the district, ex- 
ceeding fifty dollars in value, exclusive of what is exempt from 
execution. 

Under the above 4th division are included two classes of per- 
sons — citizens owning or hiring real property, subject to taxation, 
and aliens not naturalized, who have filed the affidavit prescribed 
by § 16 of title 1, chap. 1. part 2, Rev. Stat, of their intention to 
become citizens, and of having taken the necessary incipient mea- 
sures for that purpose, and who own or hire real property in the 
district subject to taxation for school purposes. It does not extend 
to those who have personal property, but neither own nor hire 
real property. The provision was intended to meet the case of 
residents, who although not entitled to vote at town meetings, may 
have a strong interest in the proceedings of disti'ict school meetings. 

Any resident of the district, who owms or hires real estate 
liable to taxation in the district, whether he pays the tax on such 
property himself or not, and whatever may belts value, and wheth- 
er he holds it by a written or verbal lease, (if for one year or less) 
is a legal voter, at any district meeting, even though he may not 
have resided either in the State or County for a sufficient length 
of time to enable him to vote at town meetings or elections. 

In reference to the above 5th division, those "citizens of the 
several towns in this state, qualified by the constitution to vote for 
elective officers," are included, provided they possess the other requi- 

13 



194 

site qualifications. Of course, persons claiming to vote at district 
meetings under this qualification must have been inhabitants of the 
state for one year, of the county for six months immediately preced- 
ing, and mustthen be actual residents of the town. To these must be 
added some one of the qualifications above specified in division 5. 
By § 60 and § 61,(Nos. 82 and 83, jit is provided that "If any person 
offerino- to vote at any school district meeting, shall be challenged 
as unqualified by any legal voter in such district, the chairman 
presiding at such meeting shall require the person so offering, to 
make the following declaration : " I do declare and affirm that I 
am an actual resident of this school district, and that I am qualified 
to vote at this meeting." And every person making such declara- 
tion shall be permitted to vote on all questions proposed at such 
meeting ; but if any person shall refuse to make such declaration, 
his vote shall be rejected. 

" Every person who shall wilfully make a false declaration of 
his right to vote at a district meeting, upon being challenged as 
herein before provided, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not 
exceeding one year, nor less than six months, at the discretion of 
the court ; and any person voting at any district meeting without 
being qualified, shall, on conviction, be subject to a fine of ten 
dollars, to be sued for and recovered by the trustees of the district 
for its use, and with costs of suit, before any justice of the peace." 

The proceedings of district meetings where illegal votes are 
alleged to have been given, will not be set aside, unless it is shown 
on appeal, 1st, that such votes were actually illegal ; 2d, that they 
affected the result ; and 3d, that they were legally challenged upon 
being offered, or that they were not at the time known to be 
illegal. 

S. KKCONSIDEPwATION OF PROCKEDINGS. 

The inhabitants of school districts may reconsider and repeal, 
alter and modify their proceedings at any time before they have 
been carried into effect, either wholly or in part. But the inten- 
tion to do so, should be explicitly set forth in the notice of the 
meeting called for that purpose. When, however, contracts have 
actually been entered into, liabilities incurred, or expenditures of 
money" had, in the prosecution of any measure directed by the dis- 
trict, a reconsideration will not be sanctioned, as no means exists 
to indemnify those who may be losers thereby. 

9. TAXES SHOULD BE SPECIFICALLY VOTED. 

Where a tax is voted by the inhabitants for any purpose, the 
specific amount of the tax, and the particular purpose for which 
it is designed, should be fully and clearly stated. And where 
several objects of expenditure are to be provided for, the amount 
to be raised for each should be expressed in the resolution, in oi^der 
that the district and the trustees may know the precise extent of 



195 

their liability, and iiie mode of its application. There may be 
cases, however, where the necessary amount to be raised, cannot 
be ascertained with any approach to accuracy ; and in such cases 
the district may direct the performance of specific acts by the 
trustees, or authorize them to incur such expenses as may be 
necessary to the accomplishment of a particular object to be speci- 
tied ; and the trustees are then authorized by §109, of the act of 
1847, (No. 129,) to raise such amount by tax upon the district 
in the same manner as if the definite sum to be raised had been 
voted. This general delegation of authority should, however, be 
resorted to only in cases of necessity. 

CHAPTER IV. 



TRUSTEES OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

These officers are to be chosen by the inhabitants of the district 
entitled to vote, at their first meeting, and thereafter at any annual 
or special meeting legally convened, whenever there is a vacancy, 
by expiration of their term of office or otherwise. In case of the 
existence of a vacancy, by the death, refusal to serve, removal out 
of the district, or incapacity of the incumbent, unless such vacancy 
is supplied by a district meeting within one month thereafter, it is 
the duty of the Town Superintendent of common schools to appoint 
some person to supj)ly such vacancy in which case the person so 
appointed holds his office for the unexpired term, § 63, (No. 85.) 
The expiration of their term of office, also creates a vacancy ; and 
if, for any reason, the annual meeting passes over without the elec- 
tion of officers, ample provision is made, (see § 66-G8, (No. 88-90,) 
for the calling of a special meeting to supply such vacancy. 

By § 79, (No. 100,) every person duly chosen or appointed to 
any such office, who without sufi!icient cause shall refuse to serve 
therein, shall forfeit the sum of five dollars ; and every person so 
chosen or ap})ointed, and not having refused to accept, who shall 
neglect to perform the duties of his office, shall foi'feit the sura of 
ten dollars. 

By § 80, (No. 101,) " any person chosen or appointed to any 
such office, may resign the same by presenting his resignation to 
the Town .Superintendent of the town where such officer shall re- 
side, who is authorized for sufficient cause shown to him to accept 
the same, and the acceptance of such resignation shall be a bar to 
the recovery of either of the penalties mentioned in the preceding 
section. The Town Superintendent accepting the resignation shall 
give notice thereof to the clerk, or to one of the trustees of the 
school district to which the officer resigning shall belong." 

By § 6 of the act of 1847, (No. 30.) "no Town Superintendent 
of common schools, shall be eligible to the office of trustee of a 
school district ; and no person chosen a trustee, can hold the office 
of district clerk." 



196 

By § 63 of the act of 1847, (No. 85,) it is provided that "the 
trustees of each of the several school districts next hereafter to be 
chosen, shall be divided by lot into three classes, to be numbered 
one, two and three ; the term of office of the first class shall be one 
year ; of the second, two ; of the third, three ; and one trustee only 
shall thereafter annually be elected, who shall hold his office for 
three years, and until a successor shall be duly elected or appoint- 
ed. In case of a vacancy in the office of either of the trustees, 
during the period for which he or they shall have been respectively 
elected, the person or persons chosen or appointed to fill such va- 
cancy shall hold the office only for the unexpired term so becoming 
vacant." 

This extension of the official term of trustees to three years, 
combined with :he annual choice of one of their number, is a very 
important improvement of the system, securing as it does, unifor- 
mity, stability and harmony in the councils of the district, and pre- 
venting that ignorance of its previous arrangements and affairs, 
which has so frequently been found not only to paralyze the exer- 
tions of new trustees, but to involve them in pecuniary embarrass- 
ment and subject them to personal liability. On the accession of 
a new trustee, under the present arrangement, he will find two 
experienced colleagues already in office, conversant with all the 
affairs of the district, and able and willing to aid and co-operate 
with him in the discharge of his duties. All the deliberations and 
actions of the board under this arrangement, will partake of a 
greater uniformity, and become more systematic. Teachers will 
be likely to be retained for a longer period ; contracts will be likely 
to be more promptly fulfilled, and taxes and rate bills to be more 
accurately made out and more speedily collected ; and order and 
harmony will gradually succeed to the chaotic confusion and irre- 
gularity which have too generally chai-acterized the records, the 
councils and the proceedings of trustees ignorant and careless of 
their duty, and anxious only to transfer the inextricable embarrass- 
ments of their district, unexplained and inexplicable, to their suc- 
cessors. 

One important operation of the provision in question, will be as 
before observed, to prevent the district from changing the time of 
its annual meeting, thereby avoiding those frequent misunderstand- 
ings as to the period when officers of the district are to be chosen, 
from which so many profitless and vexatious controversies have 
arisen. 

The duties of trustees may be arranged under the following 
general heads : 

1. The receipt and application of public money. 

2. The calling of annual and special meetings. 

3. The assessment and collection of district taxes. 

4. The purchase or lease of sites ; building, hiring, or purchas- 
ing of school-houses, the repairing and furnishing such houses with 
necessary fuel and appendages, and their custody and safe-keeping; 



197 

and the sale of such sites and houses when no longer required for 
district purposes. 

5. The employment of teachers, and their payment ; and the 
making out and collection of rate-bills. 

6. Their duties in reference to the district library. 

7. The making of annual I'eports. 

8. The accounting to their successors and the district, at the ex- 
piration of their term of office ; and paying over balances on hand. 

9. Suits by and against them. 
10. Miscellaneous provisions. 

I. THE RECEIPT AND APPLICATION OF PUBLIC MONEY, 

By the 10th section of the school act of 1847, (No. 35,) it is 
made the duty of the Town Superintendent to pay over the propor- 
tion of teacher's money to which each district may be entitled on 
its annual report for the preceding yeai', "on the written order of a 
majority of the trustees of such district to the teacher entitled to 
receive the same." 

This order may be in the following form : 

A. B. Esq. Town Superintendentof common schools of the town 
of pay C. D. a teacher duly employed by us, and qualified 

according to law, fifteen dollars, that being the amount which he is 
entitled to receive, out of the funds in your hands, applicable to the 
payment of teachers' wages, and apportioned to our district. Dated 
at this day of 18 

-g p ^ Trustees 
^ " tt' /> District 
^•^•JNo. 

Upon the day of the annual apportionment, or as soon as possible 
thereafter, the trustees should call upon the Town Superintendent, 
or send one of their number, or the clerk, with an order signed by 
" them, or a majority of them, for the share of library money due 
their district. If the Town Superintendent withholds such money, 
without justifiable cause, it is the duty of the trustees to prosecute 
for the same.— § 114, (No. 134.) 

The teachers should, if possible, present their orders at the same 
time, so that all the public money belonging to the district may at 
once be paid over and duly receipted. 

To entitle a district to its share of teachers' money, it must ap- 
pear from its annual report " that a school had been kept therein 
for at least six months during the year, ending at the date of such 
report, by a qualified teacher," after obtaining a certificate of com- 
petency from the proper authority ; that all the teachers' money 
received during the year has been expended in the payment of 
such teacher ; " that no other than a duly qualified teacher had at 
any time during the year, for more than one month, been employed 
to teach the school in said district ; " and such report must, in all 
other respects, be in accordance with law, and the requisitions and 
instructions of the Superintendent, made in pursuance of law. In 



198 

other words, it must be in the form prescribed by the Superintend- 
ent, and must contain all the information required by law and by 
the department to be given. 

There are two classes of cases in which relief may be sought for 
the refusal of the Town Superintendent to apportion or pay over 
public money to a district. 

1st. Where it is supposed his decision is erroneous upon some 
question of fact, or some principle of law. In such case the remedy 
is hy appeal to the State Superintendent, in the manner prescrib- 
ed by the regulations concerning appeals. The interest of the dis- 
trict, as well as of other districts, requires that the proceedings 
should be prompt, as an appeal stays further action by the Town 
Superintendent. 

2d. Where there has been any accidental omission to comply 
with any provision of law. or any regulation of the Superintendent, 
in consequence of which an apportionment of public money has 
not been made. In such cases a general authority is given to the 
State Superintendent, by § 14 of the aet of 1847, (No. 39,) to 
cause the apportionment to be made, on the equitable circumstances 
of the case, and a similar authority is given in relation to library 
money by the last clause of § 6 of the act of 1839, § 142, (No. 
161. 

These provisions are intended only for cases of accidental and 
unintentional omissions, and the authority given by them will not 
be exercised where there is a wilful disobedience of law, or a per- 
verse and intended violation of any regulation. 

Applications for relief in this class of cases should be made as 
soon as the omission is discovered, in order to prevent the incon- 
venience of correcting the apportionment after it has been acted 
upon ; and any unnecessary delay will in itself form a strong ground 
of declining to grant the relief desired. 

The facts and circumstances on which the application is founded 
must be verified by affidavit. 

APPLICATION OF SCHOOL MONEY RAISED BY OR BELONGING TO A 

TOWN. 

If there are any other common school funds belonging to the 
town, arising from their poor-moneys, or from their gospel and 
school fots, any portion of which is received by the trustees of a 
joint district, they are to apply such portion exclusively for the be- 
nefit of the parents of the children attending the school belonging 
to the town owning such fund. And the trustees should be careful 
not to apply any part of the money in their hands, coming from the 
common school fund belonging to a town, to the purchase of a libra- 
ry, or to any other purpose than the support of common schools. 

DIVISIONS OF teachers' MONEY INTO PORTIONS. 

By subdivision 9 of § 82, (No. 103,) trustees are authorized "to 
divide the public moneys received by them, whenever authorized 



199 

by a vote of their district, into not exceeding i'our portions tor each 
year ; and to assign and apply one of such portions to each quarter 
or term, during which a scliool shall be kept in such district for the 
payment of the teachers' wages, during such quarter or term." 
Where no action is had on the subject by the district, trustees have 
the right to appropriate the public money in such proportions to 
the different terms as they may deem expedient. It is not essen- 
tial that the public money should be paid exclusively for services 
rendered during the year in which it is received : if the whole 
amount received be applied during the year to the payment of the 
compensation of qualified teachers, it is immaterial whether such 
wages were earned wholly during that year, or in part the year 
previous. It is of frequent occurrence for teachers to commence 
their terra in November or December, and end in the succeeding 
spring ; and there is no impropriety or illegality in paying their 
wages for the whole term, wholly or in part, from the public money 
received after its close. 

The teachers' money can be applied only to the benefit of such 
schools as are established by trustees of districts in pursuance of 
law. — Com. ibchool Dec. 55. 

Where any portion of the teachers' money is applied to the pay- 
ment of the Avages of a teacher not duly qualified, or is otherwise 
illegally appropriated, the trustees, under whose authority such ex- 
penditure is made, are personally liable to the district lor the 
amount.— /(/. 213. 

ACCOUNT BOOKS. 

Trustees are required by § 104 of the act of 1847, (No. 127.) 
to keep an account in a book to be provided for that purpose by 
them, from time to time, as shall be necessary, of all moneys re- 
ceived and paid out by them, in their official capacity ; and a state- 
ment of all moveable property belonging to the district. This ac- 
count and statement is to be entered at large and signed by them, 
at or before each annual meeting in their district. They should 
charge themselves on one page with the whole amount of money 
I'eceived by them, either from the Town Superintendent or on tax 
lists or rale bills, specifying particularly the source whence derived 
and the time when received ; and on the opposite page credit them- 
selves with the respective expenditures and payments, specifying 
particularly to whom, when paid, and for what purpose, and 
referring to the proper vouchers, on file, whenever practica- 
ble. 

On another page they should make an accurate inventory of ail 
the moveable property belonging to the district, such as the library 
of the district, stating the number of volumes and their condition, 
and giving a catalogue of the books, wherever a general reference 
cannot properly be made, as to the 1st, 2d, 3d, &c., series of the 
Harper Library, or No?. 1, 2, 3, &c., of the Harper Library or 



Family Library, &c., &c., and the furniture, appendages, and ap- 
paratus of the school-room, specifying each article. The whole to 
be followed by a certificate in the following form : 

We, the subscribers, Trustees of District No. in the town 
Trenton,'do kereby certify that the preceding, from page to 

page inclusive, contains a true and accurate account of all 

the moneys received by us for the use of said district, and of the 
expenditures thereof; and a correct statement and inventory of all 
the moveable property belonging to said district. 
Dated this day of 18 , 

A. B. ) 

C. D. ) Trustees. 

E. F.j 

LIBRARY MONEY. 

The library money is to be paid over to, or on the order of, a 
majority of the trustees, on its appearing from the annual report 
that " the library money received at the last preceding ap- 
portionment was duly expended according to law, (in the purchase 
of books suitable for a district library, or in the purchase of maps, 
globes, black-boards or other scientific apparatus for the use of the 
schools, in the cases and in the mode prescribed by the late law, 
and which will be hereafter considered,&c.,) on or before the first day 
of October subsequent to such apportionment." The report must 
uniformly be accompanied with a catalogue of the books and ap- 
paratus, &c., purchased since the last preceding catalogue was fur- 
nished, and must state accurately the number of volumes, and 
their condition ; and when the money has been expended in the 
purchase of apparatus, &c., the authority under which such ex- 
penditure has been made, and a full and particular inventory of 
the articles purchased, must be specifically reported, 

II. THE CALLING OF ANNUAL AND SPECIAL MEETINGS. 

Trustees have power to call special meetings of the inhabitants 
of their district liable to pay taxes, whenever they shall deem it 
necessary and proper. This power should be liberally exercised 
for the benefit of the district ; and special meetings should be call- 
ed by the trustees, vrhenever requested for a proper and legitimate 
purpose, by a respectable number of inhabitants. The trustees 
should act as a board, whenever such meetings, are directed to be 
called; and they, or a majority of them, when all have been noti- 
ied, may require the clerk of the district, either verbally or in wri- 
ting, to give the necessary notices to the inhabitants. The object 
of the meeting should, in all cases, be specified in the notice. 
Where there is no clerk of the district, or he is absent or incapa- 
ble of acting, any one of the trustees, designated by the board, may 
uive the notices. 



201 

Where the time for holding the annual meeting has for any rea- 
son passed, without the election of officers, and neither the clerk 
nor acting trustees give the necessary notices for a special meeting, 
authorized by § G8 (No. 90,) within twenty days thereafter, any 
inhabitant of the district, qualified to vote, is authorized by § 66, 
(No. 88,) to notify such meeting in the manner provided by law, 
in case of the formation of a new district ; and the officers chosen 
at any such special meeting hold their office until the next annual 
meeting. 

III. ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION OF DISTRICT TAXES. 

This duty is one of the most difficult and perplexing devolved 
upon trustees ; requiring for its proper and legal exercise a strict 
conformity to the statutes in form as well as substance. A careful 
examination and collation of their various provisions in this respect 
becomes indispensable. Any departure from the specific directions 
thus given is almost sure to subject the trustees to serious personal 
liability, for which no indemnity is provided, as well as to cause 
embarrassment and confusion in the affiiirs of the district gener- 
ally. 

In oi'der to enable them to execute this portion of their duties 
with accuracy and ease, the several steps of the process will be 
distinctly and j)articularly pointed out ; and such directions given 
as will, it is hoped, prevent all liability to error in its future per- 
formance. 

• 

I. GENERAL PROVISION. 

The general duty of trustees under this head, is comprised in 
the 3d and 4th subdivisions of § 82, (No. 103,) and is as follows: 
'< To make. out a tax list of every district tax voted by any such 
meeting, (special, annual or adjourned,) containing the names of 
all the taxable inhabitants residing in the district at the time of 
making out the list, and the amount of tax payable by each inhab- 
itant set opposite to his name and to annex to such tax list a warrant 
directed to the collector of the district, for the collection of the 
sums in such list mentioned. 

2. TAX LIST WHKN TO BE MADE OUT, 

By § 99, (No. 122,) " Every district tax shall be assessed, and 
the tax list thereof be made out by the trustees, and a proper war- 
rant attached thereto, uutlnn one month after the district meeting 
in which the tax shall have been voted. 

The reason of this provision is obvious. The. inhabitants and 
property of school districts are constantly changing, and where a 
tax is voted for a specific purpose, it should be assessed only upon 
those for whose benefit it was voted. While the statute sliould, 
therefore, be strictly complied with whenever it can be. yet if a lit- 



202 

eral compliance is prevented by accident or unavoidable circum- 
stances, the list may be made out after the expiration of the month 
or thirty days ; as the statute is supposed to be directory, and sim- 
ilar to that in the case of the People vs. Allen, 6 Wendell, 486. 
The regulations of the Superintendent, on appeals, have allowed 
thirty days, within which any person aggrieved, in consequence of 
the proceedings of any district meeting, may appeal ; and, as will 
hereafter be seen, twenty days' notice is required to be given by 
the trustees, in case a reduction is claimed, or an original assess- 
ment becomes necessary. 

In the first case, if a copy of the appeal be served prior to the 
expiration of the month, and hefore the trustees have made their 
assessment, the time during which such appeal is pending is not to 
be computed as part of the month within which the tax list is to be 
made out, as the service operates as a stay of all proceedings in 
any way relating to or consequent tcpon the act complained of. 
Still the assessment, when made out, must have reference to the 
property of the district, as it existed at the expiration of the month. 
In the second case, the trustees should make met their tax list 
within the month, although they may not be able finally to complete 
it. They should, however, within the first ten days after the meet- 
ing at which the tax is voted, make out their assessment ; so that if 
a reduction is claimed, or an original valuation is found to be ne- 
cessary, they can give the twenty days' notice requii-ed by law, and 
complete their list by the expiration of the month. 

Errors in tax lists and rate-bills have often been discovered 
after they were made out. If discovered within a month from 
the time the tax was voted, and nothing has been collected, the 
trustees may recall them, correct the error, and redeliver them to 
the collector. But after the expiration of the month, and after 
any tax had been, in whole or in part collected, they did not, 
previously to the act of 1839, (modified by the act of 1843,) 
possess the power of correction. In consequence they were 
exposed to prosecutions for slight and accidental errors which 
might have been easily corrected by parties who did not choose to 
take the more convenient and summary mode of appealing to the 
Superintendent. This is now effectually remedied by § 13 of the 
act referred to, (No. 133,) by which trustees may, with the appro- 
bation and consent of the state superintendent, correct and amend 
errors in making out any tax list or rate-bill which may be discov- 
ered prior to the expenditure of the amount therein directed to be 
raised, and may refund to any person any sum improperly collected 
in consequence of such error. By availing themselves of this 
provision, trustees may now protect themselves from vexatious 
suits. They need not wait for an appeal by any party aggrieved, 
but as soon as they become aware of the existence of any error, 
they should proceed at once to correct it, and to refund any amoant 
improperly collected in consequence of such error. 



203 

3. HOW, ANP UPON WHOM TO BE ASSESSED, AND FOR WHAT 
PROPERTY. 

Trustees are required by § 85 of the act of 1847, (No. 108,) to 
apportion taxes, " on all taxable inhabitants of the district, or 
corporations holding property therein." This provision includes, 
of course, all actual residents of the district ; and is extended by 
^87, (No. 110,) to "every person owning or holding any real 
property within any school district, who shall improve and occupy 
the same by his agent or servant," whether he resides in the district 
or not. They are also to apportion taxes " upon all real estate 
lying within the boundaries of such district, the owners of which 
shall be non-residents, and which shall be liable to taxation for 
town or county purposes, and shall be situated within three miles 
of the site of the school-house in such district." This includes 
uncultivated and unimproved lands owned by non-residents, and 
situated in the district ; and is an extension of the power given by 
§ 78 of the old act, which limited the lands of non-residents, subject 
to taxation, to those which were actually cleared and cultivated. 
The trustees may, in their discretion, omit to assess any tract or 
parcel of unoccupied non-resident land in their district, where the 
proportion of the tax payable therefor, would oot amount to fifty 
cents. This provision is inserted to save the trouble of the sub- 
sequent proceedings rendered necessary in such cases, where so 
small a sum only can be finally collected. 

The apportionment is also to be made according to the valua- 
tions of the taxable property which shall be owned or possessed 
by them, (the inhabitants of the district, &c. as aforesaid,) at the 
time ofmahing out such list ; within such district, or partly ivithin 
such district and partly in an adjoining district. 

Taking these provisions together, the following general princi- 
ples may be deduced : 

1. All the actucd inhcd)itants of a district are taxable for the 
whole property, real and personal, owned or held by them unthin 
the district. Executors and administrators having in their pos- 
session or under their control the property of their testator or in- 
testate, within the district are taxable therefor, in their represen- 
tative capacity, as executors, &:c. 

2. They are also taxable for any real property owned by them, 
lying partly unthin such district and partly in an adjoining dis- 
trict — that is, for such property as at the t.tne of making out the 
tax list is owned by them and intersected by the boundaries of 
the district. In this respect the old law is not substantially alter- 
ed. Nor is it in any sense material when the title of the owner 
to the whole or any part of the land so intersected accrued, Avheth- 
er before or after the organization of the district, so that it be- 
longed to him at the time of making out the tax list, and is then 
intersected by the boundaries of such district. In such case, no 
matter what may be the respective proportions of the land owned 



204 

in each district, the owner is taxable for the whole farm or proper- 
ty belonging to him, and which is connected and occupied as one farm 
in the district ivhere he resides., only : and being so liable there, he 
cannot, of course, be taxed for the same property in any other district. 
The principles of law applicable to the taxation of school dis- 
trict purposes, of real estate intersected by the boundary line be- 
tween two districts, are these : Each inhabitant of a school district 
is taxable, under § 85 act of 1847, (No. 108,) in the district where 
he actually resides " according to the valuations of the taxable 
property which shall be owned or possessed by him, at the time of 
making out such list, within such district, or partly within such 
district and partly in an adjoining district." This principle has 
been repeatedly recognized and asserted ; and the only difficulty 
consists in its practical application to a class of cases supposed to 
come within the purview of a series of decisions made by Super- 
intendents Flagg and Dix, confining its operation to the period 
of the organization of the district. At page 24 of the volume of 
"Common School Decisions," Mr. Flagg says, "The principle is, 
that where a line between two districts runs through a man's farm, 
he shall be taxed for the whole of his farm, in the district where 
his house stands, .or where he resides." And he observes that on 
this point the law is clear, and that such has been the construction 
given it. " The same principle," he adds, governs the town assess- 
ments ;" the provision of law in this respect being that "where the 
line between two towns divides any occupied lot or farm, the same 
shall be taxed in the town where the occupant lives, provided he 
or she lives on the lot." At page 69, however, of the same volume 
he lays down the rule in the following terms : "Where a person 
purchased a lot in an adjoining district, along side of his farm, it 
was decided that he was taxable for the lot purchased, in the dis- 
trict where it was situated. If his farm had been interesected by 
the district line when the commissioners formed it, then he would 
have been assessed for his whole farm in the district where his 
house was situated ; but the lot purchased is a distinct lot, and the 
lines of districts cannot he changed hy individucd purchases J^ The 
same doctrine is asserted in a subsequent decision made by Gen. 
Dix, at page 128 of the volume referred to. These two decisions 
have been repeatedly over-ruled by subsequent Superintendents, 
upon the ground that they establish a criterion by which to deter- 
mine the liability of property to taxation, in the class of cases 
under consideration, not recognized by the statute, viz : intersec- 
tion by the boundary line of the district, at the time of the forma- 
tion of the district, instead of at the time of making out the tax 
list. The language of the statute, in this respect, seems to be 
clear and explicit : " In making out a tax list, the trustees of school 
districts shall apportion the same on all the taxable inhabitants of 
the district, or corporations holding property therein, according to 
the valuations of the taxable property which shall be owned or 
possessed by them, at the time of making out such list, within 



205 

such district, or partly within such district and partly in an ad- 
joining district." 

The owner or occupant ot a farm, therefore, situated pai-tly in 
two adjoining districts, is taxable in the district where he actually 
resides, for the whole farm, provided he occupies or improves the 
whole as one farm, either hj himself, his agents, or servants. 
So if the owner of a farm situated wholly in one district, purchases 
a piece of land adjoining his farm, in another, and occupies the 
whole as one farm, it is taxable only in the district where such 
owner resides. 

If, however, there is a tenant on that portion of the farm situated 
in a different district from that of the owner's residence, such ten- 
ant is taxable in the district where he resides, for so much of the 
property as he rents or leases. 

This rule of taxation in no respect interferes, as has frequently 
been supposed, and as seems to be inferred from the tenor of the 
above named decisions of Messrs. Flagg and Dix, with the boun- 
daries of the respective districts. They remain unaltered and un- 
affected ; so that if that portion of a farm situated in a district other 
than that of the owner's residence, should again be sold to an in- 
habitant of the district in which it is situated, it would again be- 
come taxable in that district. The rule is one simply of taxation : 
and no more interferes with the territorial organization of districts, 
than does the corresponding principle applicable to town assess- 
ments, with the boundary lines of towns or counties. It is based 
upon the injustice and inexpediency of requiring an inhabitant of 
one district to contribute to the expense of supporting the schools 
in another, merely because a part of his farm extends beyond the 
boundary line of his district, and operating, as it does, equally in 
every district, furnishes a guide to trustees in the assessment of 
taxes, which relieves them from much embarrassment and labor, 
otherwise unavoidable, in determining as to the relative value of 
detached portions of the same farm situated on either side of the 
boundary line of their districts. 

3. All non-resident owners of real estate in the district, who im- 
prove and occupy the same by their agents or servants, are by § 87, 
(No. 110,) taxable therein for the property so owned, improved 
and occupied, in the same manner as though they actually resided 
therein. This provision is also to be construed in connexion with 
those above referred to, and is applicable in its full extent only to 
cases where the property so occupied is wholly situaled in the dis- 
trict. Where it is situated partly in the district where the owner 
actually resides, it is taxable only in that district. And where it 
is situated partly in two or more districts, in neither of which the 
owner resides, each districts must tax such oivner only for the part 
actually within its boundaries. It is also to be borne in mind that 
this class of cases' is distinct from that in which the land is occupied 
by a tenant — and also from that in which it is so occupied by a 
person working it under a contract for a share of the produce of 



206 

such land. In each of these cases the actual possessor is to be 
taxed in the same manner as though he were the owner. See § 86, 
(No. 109,) and § 88, (No. 111.) 

4. All real estate situate in a district, within three miles of the 
school-house therein, and owned by non-residents, not included in 
either of the above class of cases, is also liable to taxation, and 
forms the subject of the directions contained in § 89 to 95 inclu- 
sive, in the act of 1847, (Nos. 112 to 118, both inclusive.) 

5. Land in the district belonging to corporations, whether cul- 
tivated or not, is taxable for school district purposes. The provi- 
sion in the act of 1847, in this respect, produces a material altera- 
tion of the law as it formerly stood, and renders turnpike, railroad 
and plank road corporations taxable for so much of the land owned 
by th.em as is situated within the respective school districts through 
which their roads pass. Such corporations and all others, are to 
be regarded as residents of the districts where their principal place 
of carrying on business is situated, and non-residents elsewhere. 

By a decree of the Chancellor of this state, 4th vol. Paige's 
Chan. Rep. 384, it has been decided that railroad " companies, 
whose stock, or the principal part thereof, is vested in the lands 
necessary for their roads, and in their railways and other fixtures 
connected therewith, are taxable on that portion of their capital as 
real estate in the several towns or wards in which such real estate 
is situated." They are, of course, taxable in school districts for 
common school purposes, on so much of such real estate as is inclu- 
ded within the boundaries of those districts. 

In the decree referred to, it was also decided that such real 
estate " is to be taxed upon its actual value at the time of the as- 
sessment, whether that value is more or less than the original cost 
thereof." 

In ascertaining the value of so much real estate as is included 
within the boundaries of a school district, the trustees must, from 
the necessity of the case, be guided by the best evidence which it 
is in their power to obtain. They should ascertain from the as- 
sessment roll of the town the aggregate value of so much of the 
real estatfi of the company as is within the town. They should 
thqn ascertain whether the proportion of that value, in respect to 
the railway included within their district, is equal to the value of 
the whole of the real estate of the company included within an- 
other district, i)i which the length of the railway is the same. This 
cannot alwavs be the case, for within the boundaries of one school 
district tin; company vt'ill have a depot, while it has none in anoth- 
er district. Within one school district the railway may have a 
double, while in another it may have but a single track. All these 
circumstances must be ascertained and taken into consideration by 
the trustees. If the company has in a school district nothing but 
its railway, and has a depot within the same town, then the value 
of the depot should be deducted from the valution of the real es- 
tate of the company on the last assessment roll of the town, as pre- 



207 

lirainary to a valuation of that part of the railway which is within 
the boundaries of such district. — Com. School Dec. 350. 

The same principles are, in the main, applicable to plank road 
corporations. 

Banks are taxable for common school purposes. — Id. 87. 

Associations formed under the general banking law are corpora- 
tions, and as such are liable to taxation on their capital. — 1 Hill's 
Hep. 616; 3 id, 389. 

By chap. 327, Laws of 1846, " rents reserved in any leases in 
fee, or for one or more lives, or for a term of years exceeding 
twenty-one years, and chargeable upon lands in any town or ward," 
are to be "assessed to the person or persons entitled to receive the 
same as personal estate., at a principal sum, the interest of which, 
at the legal rate per annum, shall produce a sum equal to such an- 
nual" rents ; and in case such rents are payable in any other thing 
except money, the value of such annual rents in money shall 
be ascertained by the assessors, and the same shall be assessed in 
manner aforesaid." Trustees of districts are to include this spe- 
cies of property in their tax lists ; and if no property can be found 
on which to levy, and the tax remains unpaid, the collector should 
return accordingly, and the trustees apply to the County Treasur- 
er, who is required to issue his warrant to the Sheriff" of the Coun- 
ty where any real or personal estate of the person upon whom 
such tax is imposed, may be found, for the collection thereof. 

I'ROCEEDINOS IK CASE OV UNOCCUPIED AND UNIBIPROVED NON- 
RESIDENT LANDS. 

Where any real estate within a district, liable to taxation, is un- 
occupied, the trustees, at the time of making out their tax list, are 
required by ij 8!) of the act of 1847, (No. 112,) whenever they 
impose a tax on such property, " to make out and insert in such tax 
list a statement and description of every such lot, piece or parcel of 
land so owned by non-residents therein, in the same manner as re- 
quired by law from town assessors, in making out the assessment 
rolls of their towns." If the tax is returned by the collector un- 
paid, upon receiving from him an account thereof, with the descrip- 
tions of the property, as directed to be made, and the amount of 
the tax, together with an aifidavit of the fact of non-payment, and 
of due diligence used for the collection, the trustees are to credit 
him with the amount, § 90, (No. 113,) to compare the account so 
rendered with the original tax list, certify to its accuracy, and trans- 
mit it, together with the collectors affidavit and their certificate, to 
the county treasurer, § 91, (No. 114,) who is to pay the amount so 
returned out of any moneys in the treasury raised for conti^lgent 
expenses. § 92, (No. 115.) 

Such county treasurer is to lay the account, affidavit and cer- 
tificate before the board of supervisors, who are to cause the 
amount of such unpaid taxes,with seven per cent in addition, to be 
levied on the lands of the respective non-residents liable to pay the 



208 

same ; which amount, when collected, is to be returned to the 
county treasurer, to reimburse the amount so advanced, with the 
expense of collection. § 93, (No. 116.) 

Any person whose lands are included in any such account, may 
pay the tax assessed thereon to the county treasurer, at any time 
before the board of supervisors shall have directed the same to 
be levied. § 94, (No. 117.) 

The same proceedings are to be had for the collection of the 
amount so directed to be raised by the board of supervisors, as are 
provided by law in relation to taxes on non-resident lands general- 
ly ; and upon a return to the comptroller of the arrears uncollected 
the amount is to be paid on his warrant to the county treasurer, 
and the state is to collect the same in the manner prescribed by law 
in respect to arrears of county taxes upon lands of non-residents. 
§ 95, (No. lis.) 

To enable the trustees better to perform the duties thus devolv- 
ing upon them, that part of the Revised Statutes refeiTcd to in § 
89, (No. 112,) and which is applicable, is hereto annexed: 

"§11. The lands of non-residents shall be designated in the 
same assessment roll, but in a part thereof separate from the oth- 
er assessments, and in the manner presci'ibed in the two following 
sections. 

" § 12. If the land to be assessed be a tract which is subdivided 
into lots, or be part of a tract which is so subdivided, the assessors 
shall proceed as follows : 

" 1. They shall designate it by its name, if known by one, or 
if it be not distinguished by a name, or the name be unknown,they 
shall state by what other lands it is bounded : 

" 2. If they can obtain correct information of the subdivisions, 
they shall put down in their assessment rolls, and in a first column, 
all the unoccupied lots in their town or ward, owned by non-resi- 
dents, by their numbers alone and without the names of their own- 
ers, beginning at the lowest number and proceeding in numerical or- 
der to the highest : 

"3. In a second column, and opposite to the number of each 
lot, they shall set down the quantity of land therein liable to taxa- 
tion : 

"4. In a third column, and opposite to the quantity, they shall 
set down the valuation of such quantity : 

"5. If such quantity be a full lot, it shall be designated by 
the number' alone ; if it be a part of a lot, the part must be 
designated by boundaries, or in some other way, by which it may 
be known. 

" § 13. If the land so to be assessed be a tract which is not sub- 
divided, or if its subdivisions cannot be ascertained by the assess- 
ors, they shall proceed as follows : 

" 1. They shall enter in their roll the name or boundaries there- 
of, as above directed, and certify in the roll that such tract is not 
subdivided, or that they cannot obtain correct information of the 
subdivisions, as the case may be : 



20d 

'* 2. They shall set down in the proper column the quantity and 
valuation as above directed: 

" 3. If the quantity to be assessed be the whole tract, such de- 
scription by its name, or boundaries will be sufficient ; but if a part 
only is liable to taxation, that part or the part not liable must b« 
particularly described : 

"4. If any part of such tract be settled and occupied by a res- 
ident of the town or ward, the assessors shall except such part from 
their assessment of the whole tract, and shall assess it as other oc- 
cupied lands are assessed." 

The residue of the sections relates to the making of a map which 
is supposed not to be applicable to trustees of school districts ; if a 
map is already on file, the trustees might refer to it in aid of their 
descriptions. 

4. VALDATIONS OF PROPERTY, HOW ASCERTAINED, AND MODE OF 
PROCEEDING WHEN REDUCTION IS CLAIMED. 

The valuations of taxable property are to be ascertained, as far 
as possible, from the last assessment roll of the town, and no person 
is entitled to any reduction in the valuation so ascertained, unless 
he gives notice of his claim to such reduction to the trustees of the 
district before the tax list shall be made out. — § 96, (No. 119.) 

The assessment roll of the town, when signed and certified ac- 
cording to the provisions of the 26th section of title 2, chap. 13, 1 
Revised Statutes, is to be deemed the last assessment roll of the 
town. By § 27, of the same title, this roll is to be delivered to the 
supervisor of the town on or before the first day of September in 
each year, to be by him delivered to the board of supervisors at 
their next meeting. 

According to the opinion of the supreme court in 7 Wendell, 89, 
the roll is then to be deemed completed, so that the trustees may 
use it as the basis of their tax list. It is true that it may after- 
wards be altered by the board of supervisors, by increasing or 
diminishing the aggregate valuation of real estate of the town to 
make it correspond with that of other towns. But it is obvious 
this will not aflTect the proportion between the inhabitants of the 
same town, so that an assessment apportioned on either roll would 
be the same, so far as the real estate is concerned. Should the 
proportions be varied when real and personal estates are assessed 
to the same person, yet under the decision referred to, the tax list 
made out upon the assessment roll as completed by the assessors 
before any N-ariation made by the supervisors would be valid. If 
any change is made by them, a subsequent tax list should vary also 
in the same particulars. Generally, the roll completed by the as- 
sessors will be a guide, but the trustees cannot be safe without re- 
curring to the roll after its correction by the supervisors, as it ha« 
been held by the supreme court in the case above referred to, and 
in other cases,' that if the tax list is made upon an assessment roll 
that is not the last valid one, the trustees will be personally liable. 
14 



210 

The question is often raised, how far, and to what extent, the 
last assessment roll of the town is to be followed in the valuations- 
of trustees in levying taxes. It is to be adopted as the sole guide, 
where a valuation has actually been made by the assessors on pro- 
perty, the condition of which remains substantially the same. But 
where improvements have been made on real estate which has 
thereby actually been enhanced in value since the last assessment 
roll was completed, or where any material change has occurred in 
the situation of the property, it is obvious that the last assessment 
roll ceases to be a standard of valuation. So, where an inhabitant 
acquires or parts with personal property, since the assessment roll 
was made out. And it is to be recollected that trustees are bound 
to follow the last assessment roll as far as possible, only with refer- 
ence to the valuations of property. Where it has changed hands, 
they are to put the assessment to the present owner, adopting the 
valuation of the town assessors. Where, for instance, one inhabi- 
tant sells his farm to another, the trustees, in levying a tax, are to 
assess the farm to the vendee, at the valuation of the town asses- 
sors, where no substantial improvement enhancing its value has oc- 
curred in the mean time ; reducing, if the circumstances require it, 
the valuation of his personal property, by the amount paid or se- 
cured to be paid as the consideration money of the purchase, and 
increasing by the same amount the valuation of the personal estate 
of the vendor. In either of these cases, however, as an original 
valuation by the trustees in part would become necessary, the pro- 
ceedings prescribed by § 97, (No. 120,) would be requisite. But 
where a mere exchange of real estate is effected, no change in the 
valuations should be made, unless in the cases above specified, of 
substantial improvements or alterations ; the names of the respec- 
tive persons liable, only, requiring to be changed. 

Where a reduction is duly claimed, and where, for any reason, 
the valuation of taxable property cannot be ascertained from the 
last assessment roll of the town, the trustees are required by § 97, 
(No. 120,) to " ascertain the true value of the property to be taxed 
from the best evidence in their power, giving notice to the persons 
interested, and proceeding in the same manner as the town asses- 
sors are required by law to proceed in the valuations of taxable 
property." The proceedings to be had in such cases are specifically 
and particularly pointed out in the following extract from the 
Revised Statutes as amended by chap. 176, laws of 1851 relating 
to the assessment of taxes. Substituting the word " trustees" for 
" assessors," wherever it occurs, the directions there given will 
afford a perfect guide in all proceedings under section 97- It has 
been decided by the Superintendent, js. 319 Decisions, &c. that the 
notice may be given by posting it in three public places. It is to 
be given in all cases of variation from the town assessment roll. 

"8 6, [Act. of 1851,] Whenever any person on his own behalf, 
or on behalf of those whom he may represent, shall apply to the as- 
sessors of any town or ward to reduce the value of his real and 



211 

personal estate, as set down in their assessment roll, it shall be the 
duty of such assessors to examine such person under oath, touching 
the value of his or their said real or personal estate, and after such 
examination the}' shall fix the value thereof, at such amount as 
they may deem just, but if such person shall refuse to answer any 
question to the value of his real or personal estate, or the amount 
thereof, the said assessors shall not reduce the value of such real or 
personal estate. The examination so taken shall be written, and 
shall be subscribed by the person examined, and shall be filed in 
the otHce of the town clerk of the town or city in which such as- 
sessment shall be made, and any person who shall wilfully swear 
falsely on such examination before the assessors, shall be deemed 
guilty of wilful and corrupt perjury. 

'• § 7. The assessors of the several towns and wards of this 
State, shall have power to administer oaths to any person applying 
to them under the provisions of the sixth section of this act. 

" § 17, (R. S.) All real and personal estate liable to taxation, 
shall be estimated and assessed by the assessors at its full and true 
value, as they would appraise the same in payment of a just debt, 
due from a solvent debtor." 

After completing the assessment roll, section 19 provides that 
the assessors "shall make out one fair copy thereof, to be left with 
one of their number. They shall also forthwith cause notices 
thereof to be put up at three or more public places in their town or 
ward." 

" § 4. (Act of 1851.) " Such notices shall set forth that the as- 
sessors have completed their assessment roll, and that a copy there- 
of is left with one of their number, at a place to be specified there- 
in, where the same may be seen and examined by any person 
interested, until the third Tuesday of August; and that on that day 
the assessors will meet at a time and place also to be specified in 
such notice, to review their assessments. On the application of any 
person conceiving himself aggrieved, it shall be tlie duty of the said 
assessors on such day to meet, at the time and place specified, and 
hear and examine all complaints in relation to such assessments 
that may be brought before them ; and they are hereby empowered, 
and It shall be their duty, to adjourn from time to time, as may be 
necessary, to hear and determine such complaints ; but in the sev- 
eral cities of this State, the notices required by this section, may 
conform to the requirements of the respective laws regulating the 
time and place and manner for revising the assessments in said 
cities, in all cases where a different time, place and manner is pre- 
scribed by said laws from that mentioned in this act. 

" § 5. If the assessors shall wilfully neglect to hold the meeting 
specified in the last preceding section, each assessor so neglecting 
shall be liable to a penalty of twenty dollars, to be sued tor and 
recovered before any court having jurisdiction thereof, by the su- 
pervisor of the town, for the use of the poor of the same town ; and 
in case of such neglect to meet for review, any person aggrieved 



212 

by the assessment of the assessors may appeal to the board of su- 
pervisors, at their next meeting, who shall have power to review 
and correct such assessment. 

"§21. The assessor with whom such assessment roll is left 
shall submit the same, during the twenty days specified in such 
notice, to the inspection of all persons who shall apply for that pur- 
pose." 

It will be observed, that under the provisions of the act of 1847, 
(No. 108, § 85,) it is no longer necessary that the agent or servant 
of the non-resident owner should reside on, or " improve and oc- 
cupy " land situated within the boundaries of the district, in order 
to render such non-resident owner liable to taxation ; provided 
such land is taxable fov town and county purposes, and is situated 
within three miles of the site of the school-house of the district in 
which it lies. 

A non-resident owner is taxable for land occupied by an agent ; 
but not, if occupied by a tenant. If the person living on the pre- 
mises rents the land as tenant, such tenant is liable to be taxed for 
the premises so occupied by him. — Com. School Dec. 27 , The 
principle of this decision is fully sustained by the supreme court in 
the case oi Dubois vs. Thome, 7 Wendell, 518, in which a lessee 
of a non-resident owner was held liable for a tax for a part of a lot, 
and two sub-tenants for the parts occupied by them respectively. 
The court observed that the mere ownership of the property, with- 
out occupation by himself, his agent, or servant, was not sufficient 
to charge the non-resident owner with the tax. As the law now 
stands, however, such ownership will be sufficient in the absence 
of any occupation by a tenant. 

A saio-mill, having an agent or servant in charge of it, is taxable 
to the non-resident owner. — Com. School Dec, 82. So a factory 
unoccupied, is taxable to the non-resident owner. — Id. 100. 

Where there is a known error in the town assessment, the 
trustees may correct it in the district assessment. For instance, if 
a resident of a district should purchase or sell a lot after the town 
assessment had been made, the trustees would be required to vary 
the district assessment accordingly. But where there is no change 
in the property of the district, and the valuation is a matter of opin- 
ion merely, the trustees must be guided by the last assessment 
roll of the town, even though in their judgment such property, or 
any portion of it, is worth more or less than the estimate put upon 
it by the town assessors.— Cow?. School Dec. 3. 

Alterations by the trustees from the last assessment roll of the 
town, by reason of improvements subsequently made, in consequence 
of which the property assessed has Ijecome enhanced in value, 
should be made only where such improvements are complete. — Id. 
194. 

In assessing taxes in joint disti-icts, the last assessment roll in 
each town must be followed, with respect to the taxable property 
within it, notwithstanding the standard of valuation adopted by the 



213 

assessors of the respective. towns may be different. — /c?. 315. But 
e e § 72, (No. 194,) Laws, &c. 

Trustees cannot assess an individual for personal property if he 
has been taxed for none on the last assessment roll of the town, on 
the supposition that he may have more than his debts amount to. 
The assessment roll of the town settles the matter, and the trus- 
tees cannot vary the amount but from some Imoivledge of an altera- 
tion after that roll was made out, or to correct some known and 
acknowledged error. — Id. 342. 

Where land owned by the same person is situated in different 
districts in the same town, but all included under one assessment 
by the town assessors, if all the land is of the same description, 
and was actually valued at the same rate per acre, without any 
variation on account of improvements or otherwise; or if it ap- 
pears on the roll at what rates the separate parts were valued, then 
the valuation of the portion situated in any particular district may 
be ascertained by the trustees from such last assessment roll. But 
if the valuation by the town assessor was general., and if the land 
was of different degrees of quality or value, or if a dwelling-house 
or other improvements are situated in one district and none in an- 
other, a new and original assessment must, in such case, be made 
by the trustees, giving the notices, &c., and proceeding in the mode 
required by law. — Per Spencer, Supt. Jan. 1841. 

Unless a reduction is claimed, or some departure from the last 
assessment roll of the town becomes necessary, trustees are not 
required to give notice of the assessment of a tax. — Com. School 
Dec. 40. 

Land purchased after a tax is voted, but before the tax list is 
made out, must be assessed to the purchaser if he resides in the 
district. — Id. 8. 

Persons leasing specific portions of a lot are to be taxed for so 
much as they lease. — Id. 1 6. 

Persons about to remove from a district must be included in a 
tax list, if the}' are actually inhabitants when the list is made out. 
—Id. 66. 

A store and lot must be taxed in the district in which they are 
situated, but goods in a store are to be taxed in the district in 
which the owner resides. Real estate is taxable where it lies, and 
personal property where the owner resides. — Id. 71, 86. 

Bridge companies are taxable in the district where the tolls are 
collected. — Id. 74. 

If a person owns two farms and the district line separates them, 
and they are separately occupied, he is liable to be taxed for each 
farm in the district where it lies. But if they are occupied as on« 
farm, the whole is taxable only in the district where the owner re- 
sides. — Id. 8L And see ante. 

The general rule is, that where a new district is formed, and the 
line intersects a farm, the whole farm is to be taxed in the district 
where the owner resides. Separate tenancies are, however, excep- 



214 

tions to this rule. When a part of a farm is leased, it ceases to be 
an entire possession, and the part so teased must, with regard to 
taxation, be considered as following the residence of the lessee or 
tenant. — Id. 103. 

The vendor of a farm remaining in possession is liable for taxes 
assessed on it. — Id. 83. 

Trustees are bound to know the condition of the taxable proper- 
ty of their district, so that in assessing taxes no person shall be im- 
properly taxed. — Id. 108. 

The toll-house and gate of a turnpike or bridge company, inclu- 
ding a lot no more than sufficient for the accommodation of the 
toll-gatherer, are necessary appendages to the franchise, and taxa- 
ble a.s personcd estate in the district where the principal office of 
the company, for the transaction of its business, is situated. — Id. 
135. 

Two or more taxes voted at the same time may be included in 
the same tax list. — Id. 158. 

If a taxable inhabitant sells his farm and remains in the dis- 
trict, he is liable to be taxed on the amount of the purchase money 
paid, or secured to be paid, as personal property, and the purchaser 
is taxable for the farm, according to its assessed value on the last 
assessment roll of the town. — Id. 285, 342. 

Trustees must include in a tax list every taxable inhabitant 
residing in the district at the time the list is made out* — Id. 109, 
342. 

If, before a tax is assessed, the trustees ascertain that the whole 
amount voted will not be required, they may make out a tax list 
for a smaller sum. — Id. 342. 

If an inhabitant removes from a district before the end of one 
month after a tax is voted, and before the tax list is delivered to 
the collector, he cannot be included in it : the tax list, while remain- 
ing in the hands of the trustees, not being complete, except in 
cases where notice is required to be given in pursuance of law. — 
Id. 357, as subsequently modijied by Young, Superintendent. 

A tenant is taxable, whether a householder or not, for land oc- 
cupied and improved by him. He may board out, and yet, if he 
hire the lot and improve it, as a tenant, he is taxable for it. — Id. 
155. 

The temporary occupancy of a house on a farm, by a person 
hired to work it by the month, does not, however, constitute such a 
tenancy as to subject such occupant to taxation for the farm. He 
can be regarded only as [agent for the ownei\ — Per Dix, Superin- 
tendent, 1837. 

Where a person, assessed for a greater number of acres than his 
farm contains, omits to claim a reduction when the tax is assessed 
by the trustees, he will not be relieved subsequently on appeal. — 
, Com. School Dec. 341. 

Trustees, guardians, executors and administrators are taxable in 
their representative character, where they reside, for all the per- 



915 

sonal estate ami property in their possession, or under their control, 
belonging to the cestuique trust, ward, testator or intestate, whom 
they represent. By ^ 10, 1 R. S. 391, a deduction is to be made 
by the assessors for debts due from the individual assessed, in his 
representative character, as specified in § 27, 2 R. S. 87. It is 
in the power of such trustees, guardians, executors or administrators 
to claim a reduction under the provisions of § 79 of the school act, 
above referred to ; and to reduce the amount of such assessment by 
a specification of the value of the property. The question wheth- 
er the real owners of the property are to be directly or indirectly 
benefitted by the expenditure of the tax assessed upon it, does not 
appear to have been one of the considerations in the provisions 
above referred to, for it is manifest that the personal property in 
the hands of a trustee, guardian, &c., in Buffalo, is liable to be taxi- 
ed there, although the real parties in interest may live in Albany. 
After the administration of an estate in the hands of an executor 
or administrator, upon the rendition and settlement of a final ac- 
count of liis proceedings, the personal property is of course no lon- 
ger liable to taxation where he resides ; but so long as it is in 
his possession, or under his control, it is so liable. — Id. 157, 
230. 

PERSONS AND PROPERTY EXEMPT FROM TAXATION. 

By § 89, (No. 121,) the trustees, in assessing a tax for building 
a school-house, are to exempt any person set off to their district, 
without his consent, from any other district, within four years pre- 
ceding the assessment of such tax, who shall have actually paid 
within that period, in the district from which he was taken, under 
a lawful assessment therein, a district tax for the same purpose. 
The burden of proof in this case undoubtedly rests with the person 
claiming the exemption, as the trustees can have no official knowl- 
edge of the fact. 

This exemption does not extend to taxes for repairs, or for any 
other purposes than building a school-house. 

By § 4 of chap. 13, 1 R. S. 379, (2d edition,) the following pro- 
perty is declared to be exempt from taxation : 

1. All property, real or pei'sonal, exempted from taxation by the 
Constitution of this state or of the United States: 

2. All lands belonging to this state or to the United States : 

3. Every building erected for the use of a college, incorporated 
academy or other [incorporated] seminary of learning ; every 
building for public worship ; every school-house, court-house and 
jail; and the several lots whereon such buildings are situated, and 
the furniture belonging to each of them : 

4. Every poor-house, alms-house, house of industry, and every 
house belonging to a company incorporated for the reformation of 
oflFenders, and the real and personal property belonging to or con- 
nected with the same : 



216 

5. The real and personal property of every public library r 

6. All stocks owned by the state or by literary or charitable ia- 
stitutions : 

7. The personal estate of every incorporated company not made 
liable to taxation on its capital by law : 

8. The personal property of every minister of the gospel or 
priest of any denomination ; and the real estate of such minister or 
priest, when occupied by him ; provided such real and personal es- 
tate do not exceed the value of f 1,500. If such real and person- 
al estate, or either of them, exceed the value of $1,500, that sum is 
to be deducted from the valuation of the property of such minister, 
and the residue is liable to taxation : 

9. All property exempted by law from execution. 

The land owned by a minister of the gospel, if rented^ can be 
taxed to the tenant. It is exempt from taxation to a certain ex- 
tent, only when occupied hy such minister. If, however, the oc- 
cupant is the agent merely of the minister, so as to render it neces- 
sary to make out the assessment against the latter as owner, the 
property is then exempt. 

Land occupied by a minister of the gospel as tenant, has been 
held exempt to the amount of $1,500, under the provision above 
quoted. — Com. School Dec. 61. 

6. WHEN TAXES MAT BE IMPOSED BY TRUSTEES WITHOUT BEING 
SPECIFICALLY VOTED. 

By § 109 of the act of 1847, (No. 129,; " When the trustees of 
any school district are required or authorized by law, or by vote of 
their district, to incur any expense for such district, and when any 
expenses incurred by them are made by express provision of law a 
charge upon such district, they may raise the amount thereof by 
tax, in the same manner as if the definite sum to be raised had 
been voted by a district meeting, and the same shall be collected 
and paid over in the same manner." 

By § 104 of the act of 1847, (No. 127,) the trustees are required 
to purchase two blank books, for the purposes specified in that sec- 
tion, and by sub. 1. of §81, (No. 102,) a book is to be provided for 
recording the proceedings of the district. The trustees will be jus- 
tified in imposing a tax, or adding to the amount of any voted by 
the district, for the expenses of these books. 

By § 105, as amended by chap. 382, Laws of 1849, " When the 
necessary fuel for the school of any district shall not be provided, 
by means of a tax on the inhabitants of the district or otherwise, it 
shall be the duty of the trustees of the district to provide the neces- 
sary fuel, and levy a tax upon the inhabitants of the district to pay 
for the same." 

The inhabitants of the district sending to school may, hy volun- 
tary arrangement, furnish their respective proportions of fuel, ac- 
cording to the number of children and the length of time they send, 
but they cannot be compelled to do so hy a vote of the district ; and 



217 

where no tax is voted for the supply of fuel, and no arrangement of 
this kind voluntarily entered into and carried into effect by those 
sending to school, it becomes the duty of the Trustees, under the 
above provision, to furnish the necessary fuel and to levy a tax up- 
on the district therefor. 

7. Form of a District Tax List to raise any tax voted or charged on 
a District, and of a Warrant for its collection. 

List of Taxes apportioned by the Trustees of District No. 
in the town of Trenton, on the taxable inhabitants of the said dis- 
trict, and corporations holding property therein, and upon real es- 
tate lying within the boundaries of such district, the owners of 
which are non-residents thereof, for the purpose of raising the sum 
of laid and charged on the said district, accoiiding to 

law. 



Names of inhabitants and 


Amount of 


Corporations, 


Taxes. 


James I homas, 


$6 00 


The President, Directors and 


Company of the Bank of Utica 


60 00 


James Thomas, executor of the 




Estate of John Thomas, de- 




ceased, 


50 00 



Statement and description of unoccupied and unimproved Lands of 
non-residents of said district, upon which a tax has been imposed 
as above stated. 



No. and descriptions of 


Quant, of land 


Valuation of 


Amount 


lots and 


therein liable 


such quan- 


of 


parts of lots. 


to taxation. 


tity. 


tax. 


No. 17, 


10 acres. 


S25 00 


fO 75 


Southwest quarter of 


lot No. 23, 


21 « 


6 00 


50 


Tract not subdivided,. 


5 " 


10 00 


62^ 


Or, 








Tract, the subdivisions 








of which cannot be as- 








certained, bounded 








north by lot No. 17, 








south by north line of 








A. B., east by lot 15, 








and west by town line. 


(( 


(( 


(1 



To the Collector of School District No. 
ten, in the county of Oneida. 



in the town of Tren- 



218 

Tou are hereby commanded to collect from each of the taxable 
inhabitants and corporations named in the foregoing list, and of 
the owners of the real estate described therein, the several sums 
mentioned in the last column of the said list, opposite to the per- 
sons and corporations so named, and to the several tracts of land 
so described, together with five cents on each dollar thereof for 
your fees, unless such amount is paid within two weeks from the 
receipt of this warrant, in which case you are to retain one per cent, 
only as your fees ; and in case any person, upon whom such tax is 
imposed, shall neglect or refuse to pay the same, you are to levy the 
same by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the person 
or corporation so taxed, in the same manner as on warrants issued 
by the board of supervisors to the collectors of towns ; and you 
are to make a return of this warrant within thirty days after the 
delivering thereof to you ; and within that time to pay over all 
moneys collected by virtue hereof, to the trustees of the said ^dis- 
trict, some or one of them; and if any tax on the real estate of a 
non-resident mentioned in the said list shall be unpaid at the time 
when you are required to return this warrant, you are to deliver to 
the trustees of the said district an account thereof, according to law. 

Given under our hands this day of in the year one 

thousand eiglit hundred and forty 

A. B.) 

C. D. V Trustees. 

E. F.) 

By § 110 of the act of 1847, (No. 130,) it is not necessary for 
the trustees to affix their seals to any warrant. 

8. WAKRANTS FOK THE COLLECTION OF TAx|lISTS AND 
KATE BILLS. 

By various provisions of the school act (No. 131, 132,) it is 
provided that the warrant annexed to any tax list for the collec- 
tion of a district tax or any rate bill for the payment of teachers' 
wages, shall command the collector, in case any person named in 
uch list shall not pay the sum therein set opposite to his name on 
demand, to levy the same of his goods and chattels in the same 
manner as on warrants issued by the board of supervisors to the 
collectors of towns, except as hereinafter specified in relation to 
rate bills. 

The time specified in any warrant, for its collection and return 
begins to run from the delivery of such warrant to the collector, 
and not from its date. — Com. School Dec. 286. 

Whei'e a warrant is signed by two trustees only, the presence 
or concurrence of the third will be presumed. — Id. 258. 

Trustees in office only, can sign warrants. — Id. 275. 

By § 112, 132, "If the sum or sums of money, payable by any 
person named in any tax list or rate bill, shall not be paid by him 
or collected by such warrant within the time therein limited, it 
may be lawful for the trustees to renew such warrant, in respect 
to such delinquent person ; or in case such person shall not reside 



219 

within their district, at the time of making out a tax list or rate 
bill, ur shall not reside therein at the expiration of such warrant, 
and no goods or chattels can be found therein whereon to levy the 
same ; tiie trustees may sue for and recover the same, in their 
name of ollice. 

Such renewal should be made at the earliest practicable period 
after the expiration of the time specified for the collection in the 
original warrant. It is not, however, necessary that it should be 
made prior to the expiration of such original warrant. 

Any second or subsequent renewal of such warrant must be 
with the written approbation of the Town Superintendent endors- 
ed thereon. 

Trustess may legally renew the warrants of their precessors 
in office. — Co7n. School Dec. 27. 

Where a district meeting votes to renew a warrant and col- 
lect a tax, the trustees may regard it as an original vote, and 
issue a new warrant for its collection. — Id. 

By ^100, as amended by the act of 1849 (chap. 382,) it is made 
the duty of the trustees, after the expiration of the thirty days al- 
lowed by law to deliver the tax list and warrant to the collector of 
the district, "and such collector is hereby authorized and directed, 
upon receiving his warrant, for two successive weeks, to receive 
such taxes as may be voluntarily paid to him ; and in case the 
whole amount shall not be so paid in, the collector shall proceed 
forthwith to collect the same. He shall receive for his services, 
on all sums paid in as aforesaid, one per cent, and upon all suras 
collected by him after the expiration of the time mentioned, five 
per cent ; and in case a levy and sale shall be necessarily made by 
such collector, he shall be entitled to travelling fees at the rate 
of six cents per mile, to be computed from the school house in such 
district." 

IV. DUTIES OF TRUSTEES IN RELATION" TO THE PURCHASE, 
CUSTODY AND SALE OF SCHOOL-HOUSES AND SITES, THE 
REPAIR OF SCHOOL-HOUSES, AND FURNISHING THEM WITH 
NECESSARY FUEL AND APPENDAGES. 

1. rURClIASE, REPAIR AND CUSTODY OF SCHOOL-HOUSE. 

By sub. 5, of § 82 of the school act, (No. 103.) it is made the 
duty of trustees, and they are empowered "to purchase or lease a 
site for the district school-house, as designated by a meeting of 
the district ; and to build, hire, or purchase, keep in repair and 
furnish such school house with necessary fuel and appendages, out 
of the funds collected and paid to them for such purpose." 

If trustees undertake to remove a school-house, buy a lot for a 
site, or do any other act which they are not by law authorized 
to do without a vote of the inhabitants of the district, it is at 
their own peril. The inhabitants may ratify their proceedings 
by a subsequent vote ; but if they do not choose to do so, the 
trustees are without remedy. — Com. School Dec. 41, 222. 



220 

But where the inhabitants of a school district have, by a vote 
to that effect authorized their trustees to make repairs or do any 
other lawful act, involving an expenditure of money, they will be 
required to save them harmless, provided they have acted in 
good faith. The inhabitfnts may always limit a contemplated 
expenditure by voting a specific sum for the purpose. But if 
they neglect to do so, and give a general direction to the trustees 
to go on and make repair, &c., without restricting the amount to 
be expended, the Superintendent will, on the refusal of the in- 
habitants after the work is done, to indemnify them, for their rea- 
sonable and bona fide expenditures, order a tax to be levied for 
the amount. — Id. 222. 

By sub. 6 of §82, above referred to, it is provided that the 
trustees shall have the custody and safe-keeping of the district 
school-house." 

Questions have frequently arisen, as to the extent of the pow- 
er conferred by this last subdivision ; and to what uses the school 
house should be confined by the trustees. 

The general principle in relation to questions of this nature 
arising in the several school districts, is this; that it is the duty 
of the trustess to exercise such a general supervision over the 
care and management of the district school-house, as that the 
instruction of pupils in the school shall not be embarrassed by 
any use of the house other than for school purposes ; and that 
the property of the district, and the furniture, books, and papers 
belonging to the school, or the pupils, shall not be injured or 
destroyed. Any use of the house in subordination to these restric- 
tions, and not inconsistent with the main purposes for which it 
was designed, must be left to the determination and pleasure of 
those to whom it belongs, whose wishes and directions, in this re- 
spectjthe trustees are bound to carry out. The school-house is the 
property of the district, and subject to its control, within the 
limitations of the law. The purpose for which it was erected 
must be pursued, and nothing can be suffered to interfere with 
that. But when that purpose is accomplished, there is neither 
reason nor law for prohibiting its application to any object of 
social or moral improvement which the majority of the inhabitants 
may sanction. Upon this principle, and subject to the restric- 
tions and limitations referred to, it may be used, out of school 
hours, and when not wanted for any district purposes, for reli- 
gious meetings, Sunday schools, lectures, debating societies, or 
any other moral, literary, or useful purpose, with the approbation 
of a majority of the district and the consent of the trustees, or 
any two of them. 

Trustees cannot, however, allow any part of the district school 
house to be occupied for any other purpose than that of the dis- 
trict school, while such school is actually in progress. — Com. 
School Dec. 51. 



221 

Select or private schools will not be permitted to be kept in 
the district school-house. — Id. 111). 

Except in extraordinary cases, schools must be kf pt in the dis- 
trict school house : and by §120 of the act of 1847, (No. 140,) 
" Whenever it shall be necessary, for the accommodation of the 
children in any district, the trustees may hire temporarily any 
room or rooms, for the keeping of schools therein ; and the ex- 
pense thereof shall be a charge on such district." 

If there is no school-house in the district a school cannot be 
opened by the trustees until the inhabitants have designated the 
place. — Com. School Dec. 190. 

2. SALE OF SCHOOL HOUSE AND SITE, 

A very important braiich of the duties incumbent upon trustees, 
is that which relates to the disposition of the school-house and 
site, when no longer required for district purposes. By §74, of 
the of act 1847, (No. 96,) the inhabitants of the district are author- 
ized, whenever the site of the school-house has been legnlly 
changed, to direct the sale of the former site, together with the 
buildings and appurtenances, or any part thereof at such price 
and upon such terms as they shall deem most advantageous to the 
district. In this case the trustees act merely as the ministerial 
officers of the district, and are bound to carry out the directions 
of the inhabitants. They are to execute the necessary convey- 
ances to the purchaser ; and when a credit is directed to be given 
for any portion of the consideration money, they are to take, in 
their corporate name, such security, by bond and mortgage or 
otherwise, as they may think proper; to hold the same as a cor- 
poration, and account to their successors ; and they are also 
authorized, in their name of office to sue for and recover the 
moneys due and unpaid upon any security so taken by them, 
or their predecessors, with interest and costs. They are by § 75 
to apply the moneys arising from such sale to the expenses in- 
curred in procuring a new site, and in removing or erecting a 
school-house, so far as such application shall be necessary. 

V". THE EMPLOYMENT C3<^ TEACHERS AND THEIR PAYMENT, 
AND THE MAKING OUT AND COLLECTING OF RATE BILLS. 

]. CONTRACTS WITH TEACHERS. 

By sub. 7 of §82, No. 103, trustees are "Jo contract with and 
employ all teachers in the district." 

The most fruitful source of difficulty in school districts, has been 
the loosness and irregularity with which these contracts have been 
made. In some districts the trustees are in the habit of agreeing 
to pay the teacher the whole amount of public money that should 
be received, be it more or less. This is unjust to the teacher or 
the district, and has almost always led to contention. The agree- 
ment should be to pay him a specific sum by the month or by the 



222 

quarter, adequate to the value of liis services. If the public 
money is not sufficient, the deficiency should be supplied by a rate- 
bill. It is not to be believed that any intelligent citizens will 
consider that sordidness to be economy, which prefers that their 
children should be brought up in ignorance, or instructed in error, 
rather than contribute the mere trifle which will secure them an 
education, sound and accurate, at least as far as it goes. When 
the rewards which other professions and avocations hold out to 
talent, knowledge and industry, are so liberal, how can it be 
expected that persons competent to the great business of instruc- 
tion, should devote themselves to it for a compensation inadequate 
to their support ? 

If the public money should be more than sufficient to i^emuner- 
ate the teacher, the trustees should consider whether they may 
not establish another school, or a district department.^ A large 
amount of public money indicates a large number of children, and 
of course there will be the materials for a large school, or for 
more than one, especially if they are of a character to command 
respect and inspire confidence. 

Should there be a surplus of public money, after paying a fair 
and just equivalent to the teachers who can be usefully employed, 
the district will always be relieved from the consequence of not 
expending the whole, upon application to the Superintendent. 

It is the duty of trustees of a school district to have a school 
kept in the district school-hoiase, wherever there are a number of 
children to attend sufficient to defray the expenses of a teacher : 
and if a portion of the public money has been assigned to each 
portion of the year, then it is their duty to have a school kept 
whenever the expense can be defrayed by the public money, and 
the rate-bills against those sending children to the school. This 
principle is applicable as well to summer as to winter schools. 
Trustees are bound to provide a school, whenever requested ^ by 
any portion of the inhabitants of the district, able and willing, 
with the help of the public money or otherwise, to defray its 
expense : and in this respect they are not to be governed or con- 
trolled by any vote of the district. The very object and business 
of their ofiPice is to provide schools ; and no district meeting can 
abridge their powers, or relieve them from the performance of 
their duty in this respect. — Per Spencer, Supt on appeal 

A practice prevails to a very considerable extent among the 
several school districts, of trustees' engaging with a teacher that 
he shall board wnth the parents of the children alternately. There 
is no authority for such a contract, and it cannot be enforced on 
the inhabitants. This compulsory boarding gives occasion to con- 
stant altercation and complaint, which often terminates in breaking 
up the school. The best arrangement is to give the teacher a 
specific sum and let him board himself. But there are some dis- 
tricts so destitute that it may afford the inhabitants considerable 
relief to be permitted to board the teacher. In such cases the 
object can be obtained in another way. Let the trustees contract 



223 

with the teacher at a specific sum per month, or by the quarter, 
and they may then agree with him, that if he shall be afforded 
satisfactory board at the house of any of the inhabitants, he will 
allow whatever sum may be agreed on per week for such board, to 
be applied to his wages, and will give an order on the trustees for 
the amount, to the person with whom he boards : and the trustees 
may then accept such order from the inhabitants, as payment to 
that extent upon his tuition bill, 'and deduct it from the s^mount to 
be paid the teacher, after having paid him the whole of the public 
money. 

It is strongly recommended that all contracts with teachers be 
made in writing, and a duplicate kept by each party. In no other 
way can justice be done to the parties in case of any dispute. 

The power of the trustees to contract with and employ teachers, 
cannot be controlled by the inhabitants ; although it should never 
be exercised, unless under very peculiar circumstances, in opposi- 
tion to the known wishes of a decided majority of the district. 

Contracts by trustees of school districts for teachers' wages are 
binding on them personally, individually and collectively, while 
they remain in office ; and on their successors after the expiration 
of their term: and trustees who are not in office, as such, are no 
longer personally answerable on such contracts. See 7 Wendell, 
181, 4 Hill; Com. School Dec. 191, 282. 

A contract made by all the trustees of a district, but signed by 
two only, is binding upon all ; and the presence or concurrence of 
the third will be presumed from the signature of the remainder. 
So two trustees may enter into a contract, in the absence of the 
third, if he was duly notified of a meeting for that purpose, or was 
consulted, and refused to act. — McCoy vs. Comtree, 9 Wend. 17. 
In short, so far as the rights of third persons are concerned, a 
contract made by a majority of the trustees will be regarded as 
prima facie valid and obligatory. The party with whom the 
contract has been entered into is not bound to enquire whether the 
requii^ite preliminary steps to authorize the majority to act without 
the presence or concurrence of the third trustee have been taken 
or not. 

If a teacher's certificate is annulled, the trustees are at liberty 
to dismiss him, and to rescind their contract with him. They 
engage him as a qualified teacher, and the moment he ceases to be 
so, there is a failure of the consideration for the contract. If, 
however, the trustees continue him to the school after notice that 
his certificate has been annulled, it will be regarded as such a con- 
tinuance of the contract that they will not be allowed at a subse- 
quent period to dispute it. — Com. School Dec. 212. 

2. MODE OF PAYING TEACHERS. 

This is specifically provided for by § 82, (No. 103,) above 
referred to. By subdivision eight, the trustees are " to pay the 



224 

wages of such teachers, when qualified, out of the moneys which 
shall come into their hands from town superintendents of common 
schools, so far as such moneys shall he sufficient for that purpose ; 
and to collect the residue of such wages, excepting such sums as 
may have been collected by the teachers, from all persons liable 
therefor." 

By subdivisions nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen and fourteen, 
they are, 

" To divide the public moneys received by them, whenever 
authorised by a vote of their district, into not exceeding two por- 
tions for each year, to assign and apply one of such portions to 
each term during which a school shall be kept in such district, for 
the payment of the teachers' wages during such quarter or term ; 
and to collect the residue of such wages, not paid by the propor- 
tion of public money allotted for that purpose, from the persons 
liable therefor, as above provided. 

" To exempt from the payment of wages of teachers, either 
wholly or in part, such indigent persons within the district as they 
shall think proper, in any one quarter or term, and the same shall 
be a charge upon such district : 

" To certify such exemptions, and deliver the certificate thereof, 
to the clerk of the district, to be kept on file in his office : 

" To ascertain, by examination of the school lists kept by such 
teachers, the number of days for which each person not so exempt- 
ed, shall be liable to pay for instruction, and the amount payable 
by each person : 

" To make out a rate-bill containing the name of each person 
so liable, and the amount for which he is liable, and to annex 
thereto a warrant for the collection thereof : and 

" To dehver such rate-bill, with the warrant annexed, to the 
collector of the district, as directed by subdivision 14, of § 82, (No. 
103,) and § 83, (No. 104.) 

By § 84, of the same act, (No. 105,) " where by reason of the 
inability to collect any tax or rate-bill, there shall be a deficiency 
in the amount raised, the inhabitants of the district, in district 
meeting, shall direct the raising of a sutficient sum to supply such 
deficiency, by tax, or the same shall be collected by rate-bill, as 
the case may require." 

In accordance Avith these several provisions, trustees of districts 
in making out their rate bills, will hereafter proceed as follows : 

1. They will first ascertain the amount due to the teacher, under 
his contract, for the first quarter's services. 

2. They will then apply so much of the public money as is ap- 
plicable to the term, in diminution of such amount. 

3. They will assess the balance upon each inhabitant who has 
sent to the school during the term, (including indigent persons) ac- 
cording to the number of children and of days sent by each, as 
appears by the verified list kept by the teacher, under the 104th 
section of the aforesaid act. (No. 127.) 



225 

4. They will then proceed to exempt, either wholly or ir part, 
su«h indigent inhabitants as they may think proper for tlie pay- 
ment of their proportion of such assessment, and certify the whole 
amount of such exemptions, and deliver the certificate thereof to 
the clerk of the district, to be kept by him. 

5. They will then make out a rate bill against those exempted 
in part, for the balance remaining after such partial exemption, and 
against those not exempted either wholly or in part, for the collec- 
tion of the amounts assessed against them respectively, and add 
their warrant, in the usual manner. Such warrants need not be 
under seal, and may be executed by the collector " in any other 
district or town, in the same manner, and with the like authority, 
as in the district for which he was chosen or appointed." CNo 
126.) If \ ■ 

6. The trustees will collect the amount of exemptions, a.s certified 
by them, by a tax, which they are authorized to impose upon 
all the taxable inhabitants of the district. They may immediately 
proceed to impose this tax ; or they may add the amount to any 
tax thereafter imposed for district purposes, as may be most con- 
venient. 

Trustees should exercise a liberal discretion in making exemp- 
tions in behalf of indigent inhabitants, so that the charge for tuition 
shall in no case be burdensome : while on the other hand, they 
should never allow the consideration of the trifling amount of the 
general tax for such exemption when levied upon the whole taxa- 
ble property of the district, to tempt them into an unnecessary ex- 
ercise of the powers confided to them. 

To illustrate this proceeding more fully, let us apply the several 
steps necessary to be taken in ordinary cases. Suppose a teacher 
employed for the usual term of four months at $20 per month. 
The public money, including local funds, belonging to the district, 
and applicable to the term, either by the decision of a district 
meeting, as above specified, or by the determination of the trustees, 
is $40 : the amount due the teacher for his quarter's services is of 
course S80, of which the trustees pay him $40 at once, from the 
public money, and take his receipt therefor. They then call upon 
him for his list, kept and verified according to the provisions of 
^ 104, (No. 127,j and after havmg ascertained froui such list, the 
number of days' attendance for which each person sending to school 
is liable, they will proceed to assess the respective proportions of 
the remaining !S40, from each, according to the whole number of 
days and children sent. Thus if one inhabitant has sent four chil- 
dren for 104 days, he will be charged for 416 days, and so on. 
Suppose upon adding up the whole number of days thus ascer- 
tained, the total is found to be 4,000, for the average attendance 
of 40 scholars for the whole term : the proportion of $40 due for 
one scholar for each day, would be one cent : and this multiplied 
by the number of days each scholar attended, would give his pro- 
portion : and by adding the proportions of each belonging to the 
15 



226 



same family, the amount due from each person sending to scliool is 
ascertained. The trustees then make out an assessment in the 
following form. 

Form of Assessment. 

Assessment containing the name of each person liable for 
teachers' wages in district No. in the town of Trenton, for 
the terra ending on the day of 185 , and the amount for 
which each person is liable. 



Names of inhabitants sending to school. 



John Jackson,. . . , 
James Johnson,. . 
Timothy Warner,. 

Peter Barney, 

Solomon Kinney,, 
William Jones,. . 

John Dye, 

William Johnson, 
Thomas Jones,. . 
John RadcliflT,, . . 
James Tunicliff,. 
John Simons,.. . . 
Joseph Williams, 



Whole No. 1 Amount of 
of days sent, school bill. 



104 


$1 04 


416 


4 16 


312 


3 12 


50 


50 


54 


54 


416 


4 16 


104 


1 04 


104 


1 04 


520 


5 20 


520 


5 20 


520 


5 20 


520 


5 20 


360 


3 60 


3,120 


^40 00 



The assessment should be signed by the trustees and filed with 
the district clerk. 

The next step is to exempt such indigent persons as the trustees 
may think proper, from the payment of the sums set opposite to 
their names, either wholly or in part. Suppose Peter Barney to 
be exempted wholly, and Thomas Jones and John Radclitf each 
from the payment of one-half the amounts assessed to them ; the 
trustees will first make out a certificate, to be filed with the clerk 
of the district in the following form : 

3. CERTIFICATE OF EXEMPTION. 

We, the undersigned, trustees of District No. in the town 
of Trenton, do certify, that we have this day exempted Peter 
Barney from the payment of any share of the wages of the teacher 
employed in said district for the term ending on the day of 

^7^^ 18 and Thomas Jones and John Radcliff each 
from the payment of one half the amount assessed to them respec- 
tively, as their share of such wages. 

Dated this day of ) A. B. 

IS y C. D. >- Trustees. 

E. F. 



227 

They will then proceed to make out their rate bill and warrant 
in the following manner : 

Form of Rate Bill and Warrant. 

Rate bill, containing the name of each person liable for teach, 
ers' wages, in District No. in the town of Trenton, for the 
term ending on the day of 185 and the amount 

for which each person not exempted, either wholly or in part, 
from the payment of such amount, is so liable, with the fees of the 
collector thereon. 



Names of inhabitants sending 
to school. 



John Jackson,. . . 
James Johnson.. . 
Timothy Warner,. 
Solomon Kinney,. 
William Jones,. . . 

John Dye, 

William Johnson,. 
Thomas Jones,. . . 
John Radcliff,.. . . 
James Tuiiicliff, . . 

John Simon. 

Joseph Williams,. 



Whole number o 
days sent. 


! O 
1 O 
1 -^ 
' o 
<» 

"c : 

i s 

1 9 

3 

< 


1 
1 
i 




104 


SI 
4 
3 

4 
1 
1 
2 
2 
5 
5 
3 


04 
16 
12 
54 
16 
M. 
04 




41G 




312 




54 




416 


Paid to teacher 


1 04 




104 


S3 naid to tpnr.Iier. 


520 


60 ' 


520j 


60 


520 


20 


I 520 


20 


360 


1 
60, 






3,070 


36 


90 



To the Collector of School District No. in the town of 
Trenton, in the county of Oneida. 

You are hereby commanded to collect from each of the persons 
in the annexed rate bill named, the several suras mentioned in the 
last column thereof, with five per cent for your fees, except on 
amounts paid in within two weeks after the receipt of this warrant 
at one per cent., and within thirty days after receiving this war- 
rant to pay the amount so collected by you, into the hands of the 
trustees of said district, or one of them; and in case any person 
therein named shall neglect or refuse to pay the amount set opposite 
his name as aforesaid, you are to levy the same by distress and sale 
of the goods and chattels of such person, except such as are exempt 
by section twenty-two, article two, title five, chapter six, part three 
of the revised statutes from levy and sale under execution. 



228 

Given under our hands, this day of in the year 

of Lord one thousand eight hundred and 

A. B. ) 

C. D. V- Trustees 
E. F.) 

There will still remain $3 10 of the amount due the teacher 
for his wages, being the amount of exemptions by the trustees ; 
and this sum must be levied by tax on all the taxable inhabitants 
of the district and corporations holding property therein, in the 
same manner as though such amount had been actually voted by 
the district to be raised. If the teacher can wait upon the district, 
or the trustees choose to advance the money in its behalf, the 
amount may be added to the next tax that may be voted for dis- 
trict purposes. It should, however, be assessed within a reason- 
able time ; and wherever the amount of exemptions is sufficient 
to warrant an immediate assessment, it should at once be levied. 
The trustees must exercise a sound discretion in this respect, 
with reference to the amount to be raised, and the probability of 
an early opportunity to add it to some district tax. 

The following property when owned by any person being a 
house-holder is exempt from the operation of the collecter's warrant, 
on a rate-hill, viz : 

" 1. All spinning wheels, weaving looms and stoves put up, or 
kept for use in any dwelling house : 

" 2. The family bible, family pictures and school books used by 
or in the family of such person ; and books not exceeding in value 
fifty dollars, which are kept and used as part of the family library : 

" 3. A seat or pew occupied by such person or his family, in any 
house or place of public worship : 

" 4. All sheep to the number of ten, with their fleeces and the 
yarn or cloth manufactured from the same ; one cow, two swine, 
the necessary food for them ; all necessary pork, beef, fish, flour, 
and vegetables actually provided for family use ; and necessary 
fuel for the use of the family for sixty days : 

" 5. All necessary wearing apparel, beds, bedsteads and bedding 
for such person and his family ; arms and accoutrements required 
by law to be kept by such person ; necessary cooking utensils ; one 
table ; six chairs ; six knives and forks ; six plates ; six teacups 
and saucers ; one sugar dish ; one milk-pot ; one tea-pot and six 
spoons ; one crane and its appendages ; one pair of and-irons and 
a shovel and tongs : 

" 6. The tools and implements of any mechanic, necessary to the 
carrying on of his trade, not exceeding twenty-five dollars in value." 

Sec. 22. Chapter 6. Art. 2. Title 5. Part 3. Rev. Stat. 

Where a person agrees to pay for a certain number of scholars, 
he is entitled to the benefit of the public money in reduction of 
their school bills — Com. School Dec. 83. 

In making out rate-bills, inhabitants of districts can only be 
charged for so much time, as their children have actually attended 
school. — Id, 15. 



229 

All children attending the district school must be charged at the 
same rate for tuition, without regard to the studies pursued. — Id. 47, 

A resident of a school district cannot be prosecuted bj the 
trustees for the amount due on his rate-bill. The only remedy 
against himjis by distress and sale of his goods and chattels. — Id. 
254. 

In the exercise of the power conferred upon the trustees, of ex- 
empting indigent inhabitants of their district from the payment of 
the whole or of portions of their rate-bills, the utmost liberality, 
compatible with justice to the district, should be indulged. Noth- 
ing can be more at variance with the benign spirit and intent of 
the school laws, than the compulsory distress and sale of articles of 
absolute necessity to an indigent family, for the purpose of satisfy- 
ing the rate-bill for teachers' wages. And yet cases of this kind 
are frequently brought to the notice of the department. Every 
reasonable facility should be afforded to the children of the poor, 
for the attainment of all the blessings and advantages of element- 
ary instruction : and this should never be permitted to become in 
any degree burdensome to their parent^. Where any inhabitant 
of the district in indigent circumstances cannot meet the rate-bill 
for the payment of the teachers' wages, without subjecting himself 
to serious embarrassment, or his family to sensible deprivation, he 
should promptly and cheerfully be exonerated. A just feeling of 
pride may reasonably be expected to preclude any from availing 
themselves of this exemption, unless under the pressure of absolute 
necessity ; and occasional abuses of the privilege so accorded, are 
productive of less disastrous results, than a prevailing impression 
among the indigent inhabitants of a district, that their children can 
partake of the advantages of common school education, only at a 
burdensome charge to themselves, and by a sacrifice of the ordinary 
necessities and comforts of their families. 

Indigent persons may be exempted from the payment of school 
bills, whether there is public money to be applied to the term or 
not. — Com. School Dec. 56. 

The exemption of indigent persons from the payment of the 
wages of teachers is a matter of discretion with the" trustees, not 
regulated by any specific restrictions, but entrusted to them to be 
disposed of in good conscience, with a just regard to the rights of 
all concerned. — Id. 241. 

Trustees are the sole judges of the ability of the persons residing 
within their respective districts to pay their school bills. — Gom. 
School Dec. 254. 

The wages of an unqualified teacher must be collected by rate- 
bill agamst those sending to school, in the same manner as though 
he held a certificate, provided he was duly employed by the trustees. 
— irf. 61, 76, 213. 

The wages of two teachers, employed for different terms, or dif- 
ferent portions of the same term, at different rates of compensation, 
cannot be included in one rate-bill. — Id. 168, &c. 



230 

Trustees cannot transfer to teachers the right of enforcing the 
collection of their wages. If the teacher agrees to collect his own 
wages, it is right that he should do so, to the extent of his ability ; 
but in case of failure, the trustees alone can issue a rate-bill and 
warrant ; and they should do so notwithstanding any agreement to 
the contrary with the teacher. — Id. 288 ; Per Dix, SupH. 

Trustees cannot include in a rate-bill any other object than the 
wages of the teacher under the contract made by them. 

Where a person had from charitable motives, taken a poor 
family to reside with him, in his house, the children of which at- 
tended the district school, it was held that he was not liable for the 
tuition of such indigent children, unless they were sent to school 
by him under an express or implied contract to be responsible for 
such tuition ; and that if sent by their parents, or if they attended 
school of their own accord, the trustees should exempt the parents 
from payment of the tuition bill. — Per Spenceb, Suipt. 1840. 

A grandfather is not prima facie liable for the board or school- 
ing of a grandchild. He jaiay, however, become liable, in the same 
manner and to the same extent as any individual who has a youth 
residing with him whom he supports and suffers to go to school, 
without giving any particular directions on the subject. An im- 
plication would arise that it was by his assent. But the father or 
mother is prima facie liable : and some positive acts on the part of 
the grandfather must be shown, amounting to an assumption of 
liability on his part before he can be held responsible for the pay- 
ment of tuition under such circumstances. — Id. 1841. 

SCHOOLS FOR COLORED CHILDREN. 

By § 147 of the act of 1847, (No. 179,) a school for colored 
children may be established in any district, with the approbation 
of the commissioners, which is to be under the charge of th' 
trustees of the district in which such school is established. Trus- 
tees in their annual reports are also required particularly to speci- 
fy the number of such children over four and under twenty-one 
years of age attending such school from different districts, nam- 
ing such districts respectively, and the number from each attend- 
ing for four months, and instructed by a duly qualified teacher, 
which report is to form the basis of an apportionment to such 
school, of a share of the public money. 

The provisions contained in this section are more particularly 
applicable to those cities and large villages where no special legal 
provisions have been made for the instruction of colored children. 
The means provided, are it is true, altogether insufficient to meet 
the expense which must necessarily be incurred in the organiza- 
tion of these schools ; and inasmuch as the class of community 
for whose special benefit they are intended are generally unable 
to contribute to such expense, in any considerable degree, the 



231 

object in view can seldom be fully attained, but through the 
efforts of charitable and benevolent individuals in the several 
districts, from which the colored schools are composed. These 
efforts have hitherto been paralyzed from the absence of any 
legal power to effect the necessary organization ; and the pro- 
vision now made was, doubtless, intended to supply that defect, 
and to furnish a nucleus around which the benevolent exertions 
of the friends of education and humanity might be concentrated. 
If, however, in any of the country districts, a colored school can 
be organized and efficiently kept up for the requisite length of 
time, it is hoped no efforts will be spared to carry into effect the 
provisions of the section. Colored children are entitled equally with 
all others, to the privileges and advantages of the district school ; 
and wherever they can be grouped together in a separate 'school, 
under the charge of a competent teacher, they will be far more 
likely to derive the full benefits of such instruction as may be 
best adapted to their circumstances and condition, while at the 
same time, the disadvantages inseparable from their attendance 
at the district school, will be avoided. 

Trustees have power, with the assent of the Town Superin- 
tendent, and by a vote of the inhabitants of their district, to pur- 
chase, hire or build a school-house or room for the accommodation 
of the colored children of their own and other adjoining districts; to 
supply the same with the necessary furniture, fuel and appen- 
dages ; and to employ a competent teacher. 

By § 104, of the act of 1847, (No. 127,) the trustees of each 
district are to provide a book, in Avhich the teachers are to enter 
the names of the scholars attending school, and the number of 
days they shall have respectively attended, and also the number 
of times the school has been inspected by the Town Superintend- 
ents. This list is to be verified by the oath of the teacher. 

None but children residing in a school district can of right be 
benefitted by the public money. Indeed, the trustees can ex- 
clude all children, except those who are residents of the district, 
from the school. But if such non-resident children are permitted 
by the trustees to attend the school, their parents should be ap- 
prised of the conditions on which they are received ; and one of 
these conditions may be, that part of the public money shall 
be applied for their benefit. Where no such conditions how- 
ever are exacted by the trustees, and such non-resident children 
are admitted on the application and responsibility of an inhabi- 
tant of the district, the trustees must make out the rate bill against 
such inhabitant in the usual manner. 

Children of non-resident parents coming into a district and 
boarding for the purpose of attending school therein, are not en- 
titled to any share of the public money in reduction of their rate 
bills ; and their tuition, in such case, may be charged, in the first 
instance, to the person v/ith whom they board ; whose liability 
therefor can be discharged only by express notice to the trustees, 



232 

that he declines being accountable for such tuition. Where, 
however, such children are hired to labor or service in the family 
of an inhabitant of the district, or are regarded and treated ?is 
part of the family of such inhabitant and not as mere temporary 
boarders, they are entitled to participate equally with the other 
children of the district, in the public money.— Per Young, Sup't. 
1842.. 

Trustees cannot refuse admittance in the school to any child 
whose residence is in the district, if such child complies with the 
reasonai)Ie and proper regulations of the school. — Com. School 
Dec. 47. 

No child residing in a school district can be excluded from 
the school on account of the inability of the parents to pay his 
tuition. — Id. 119. 

If a non-resident owner of taxable property in the district 
sends his children to the school in such district they should be 
permitted to attend, unless by their admission the school vyould 
become too crowded. — Id. 317, 

All children residing in a district and attending the school, 
are entitled to participate in the public money, without refer- 
ence to their ages. — Id. 34. 

As a general rule, all under the age of twenty-one years, and of 
a proper age to be benefitted by instruction, are entitled to admis- 
sion. Tliere must, however, be some discretion vested in the 
trustees, in regard to such admission. Children having infectious 
diseases — idiots — infants — and persons over twenty-one, may un- 
doubtedly be excluded ; and colored children, where their attend- 
ance is obnoxious to the greater portion of the patrons of the school, 
especially in cases where schools have been established for their 
separate benefit, within a reasonable distance from their residence. 
—Per Spencer, Sup't. 1841. 

It is the duty of the trustees to co-operate with the teacher in 
the government of the school, and to aid him, to the extent of their 
power and influence, in the enforcement of reasonable and proper 
rules and regulations ; but they have no right to dismiss a scholar, 
except for the strongest reasons ; for example, such a degree of 
moral depravity as to render an association with other scholars 
dangerous to the latter, or such violent insubordination as to ren- 
der the maintenance of discipline and order impracticable, in 
which case they may legally exclude him from the school, until 
sucb period as he may consent to submit to the reasonable rules 
and regulations of the teacher and trustees ; and if after sxscli ex- 
clusion he persists in attending, without permission from the 
OTrustees, and contrary to their directions, he may be proce^eded 
against as a trespasser. — Per Dix ojid Morgan, Sup'ts 1837 and 
1850. 



233 

VI. DUTIES OF TRUSTEES IN REFERENCE TO THE 
DISTRICT LIBRARY. 

The trustees of each school district are constituted by law the 
trustees of the library. They are responsible for its preservation 
and care ; and the librarian is subject to their direction, and 
may at any time be removed by them from office for wilful dis- 
obedience of such directions, or for any wilful neglect of duty, or 
eren when they have reason to apprehend the loss of any books, 
or their injury or destruction by his misconduct. In case of such 
removal, or of a vacancy occurring from any cause, they are to 
supply such vacancy by appointment, until the next annual meet- 
ing of the district. They are personally liable to their successors 
for any neglect or omission in relation to the care and superinten- 
dence of the library, by which any books therein are lost or injur- 
ed, to the full amount of such loss or injury, and their action in re- 
ference to its management, may be at any time controled by the 
department, on appeal. 

By the 4th section of chap. 237, of the Laws of 1838, the sum 
of $55,000 from the annual revenue of the U. S. Deposit Fund, 
was required to be annually distributed " to the support of com- 
mon schools, in like manner and upon the like conditions as the 
school moneys now are or shall hereafter be distributed, except that 
the trustees of the several districts shall appropriate the sum re- 
ceived to the purchase of a district library for the term of three 
years, (afterwards by § 6 of chap. 177, Laws of 1839, extended 
to five years,) and by the act of 1843, indefinitely, with the mod- 
ifications thei'ein expressed. 

Trustees are, by this provision authorized to make the selection 
of the books for the library, as the application of the money is to 
be made by them. 

The object of the law for procifring district libraries is to diffuse 
information, not only, or even chiefly, among children or minors, 
but among adults and those who have finished common school 
education. The books, therefore, should be such as will be useful 
for circulation among the inhabitants generally. They should not 
be children's books, or of a juvenile character merely, or light and 
frivolous tales and romances, but works conveying solid informa- 
tion which will excite a thirst for knowledge, and also gratify it, as 
far as such a library can. Works imbued with party politics, and 
those of a sectarian character, or ho.stility to the Christian religion, 
should on no account be aduiitted ; and if any are accidentally 
received they should be immediately removed. Still less can any 
district be permitted to purchase school books, such as spelling 
books, grammars, or any others of the description used as textbook 
in schools. Such an application of the public money would be an 
utter violation of the law. If any case of improper selection of 
books should come before the Superintendent, by appeal from any 
inhabitant, such selection would be set aside ; and if it appeared 



234 

from the reports, which according to these regulations must be 
made that such books had been purchased, the Town Superinten- 
dent will be bound to withhold the next year's library money from 
such district. These penalties and provisions will be rigidly ch- 
forced ; for upon a faithful administration of the law the usefulness 
and the continuance of the system will depend. If the publie 
munificence be abused it will unquestionably cease. 

The selection of books for the district library, is devolved hj 
law exclusively upon the trustees ; and when the importance of 
this most beneficent and enlightened provision for the intellectual 
and moral improvement of the inhabitants of the several districts, 
of both sexes and all conditions, is duly estimated, the trust here 
confided is one of no ordinary responsibility. In reference to suck 
selections, but two prominent sources of embarrassment have been 
experienced. The one has arisen from the necessity of excluding 
from the libraries all works having directly or remotely, a sectarian 
tendency, and the other, from that of recommending the exclusion 
of novels, romances and other fictitious creations of the imagina- 
tion, including a large proportion of the lighter literature of the 
day. The propriety of a peremptory and uncompromising exclu- 
sion of those catch-penny, but revolting publications which culti- 
vate the taste for the marvellous, the tragic, the horrible, and the 
supernatural — the lives and exploits of pirates, banditti and despe- 
radoes of every description — is too obvious to every reflecting mind, 
to require the slightest argument. Unless parents desire that their 
children should pursue the shortest and surest road to ignominy, 
shame and destruction — should become the ready and apt imita- 
tors on a circumscribed scale, of the pernicious models which they 
are permitted and encouraged to study — they will frown indignant- 
ly on every attempt to place before their immature minds, works, 
whose invariable and only tendency is disastrous, both to the in- 
tellect and the heart. 

The exclusion of works imbued to any perceptible extent with 
sectarianism, rests upon the great conservative principles which are 
at the foundation of our free institutions. Its propriety is readily 
conceded when applied to publications, setting forth, defending, or 
illustrating the peculiar tenets which distinguish any one of the 
numerous religious denominations of the day from the others. On 
this ground no controversy exists as to the line of duty. But it 
has been strongly argued that those " standard " theological publi- 
cations which, avoiding all controverted ground, contain general 
expositions of Christianity — which assume only those doctrines and 
principles upon which all " evangelical " denominations of Chris- 
tians are agreed, are not obnoxious to any reasonable censure, and 
ought not, upon any just principles, to be excluded from the 
school district library. There are two answers to this argument, 
either of which is conclusive. The one is, that the works in ques- 
tion, however exalted may be their merit, and however free from 
just censure, on the ground of sectarianism, are strictly theological, 



235 

doctrinal or metaphysical ; and therefore no more entitled to a 
place in the vilotrict library than works devoted to the professional 
elucidation of law, medicine, or any other learned professions. 
Their appropriate place is in the family, church or Sunday school 
library. The other answer is, that in every portion of our country 
are to be found conscientious dissenters from the most approved 
theological tenets of these commentators on Christianity ; indivi- 
duals who claim the right, either of rejecting Christianity alto- 
gether, (as the Jews,) or of so interpreting its fundamental doc- 
trines, as to place them beyond the utmost verge of " evangelical" 
liberality ; and this too, without, in any degree, subjecting them- 
selves to any well-founded imputations upon their moral charac- 
ter as citizens and as men. The state, in the dispensation of its 
bounty, has no right to trample upon the honest convictions and 
settled belief of this or of any other class of its citizens against 
whose demeanor, in the various relations of society, no accusation 
can be brought ; nor can it rightfully sanction the application of 
any portion of those funds to which they, in common with others, 
have contributed, to the enforcement of theological tenets to which 
they cannot conscientiously subscribe. Any work, therefore, which, 
departing from the inculcation of those great, enduring and cardi- 
nal elements of religion and morality which are impressed upon 
humanity as a part of its birth-right — acknowledged by all upon 
whom its stamp is affixed, however departed from in practice, and 
incorporated into the very essence of Christianity as its pre-eminent 
and distinctive principle — shall descend to a controversy respecting 
the subordinate or collateral details of theology, however ably 
sustained and numerously sanctioned, has no legitimate claim to a 
place in the school district library , nor can its admission be coun- 
tenanced consistently with sound policy or enlightened reason. 

The following general principles have been laid down in a 
special report on common school libraries, prepared under the 
direction of the department by Henry S. Randall, Esq., Coun- 
ty Superintendent of common schools of Cortland county, and may 
be regarded as the settled principles of the department in refer- 
ence to this class of books : 

" 1. No works written professedly to uphold or attack any sect 
or creed in our country, claiming to be a religious one, shall be 
tolerated in the school libraries. 

" 2. Standard works on other topics shall not be excluded, be- 
cause they incidentally and indirectly betray the religious opinions 
of their authors. 

" 3. Works avowedly on other topics which abound in direct and 
unreserved attacks on, or defences of, the character of any religious 
sect ; or those which hold up any religious body to contempt or 
execration, by singling out or bringing together only the darker 
parts of its history or character, shall be excluded from the school 
libraries. 



236 

" Is it said that under the above rules, heresy and error are 
put on the same footing with true religion — that Protestant and 
Catholic, orthodox and unorthodox, TJniversalist, Unitarian, Jew, 
and even Mormon, derive the same immunity ? The fact is con- 
ceded ; and it is averred that each is equally entitled to it, in a 
government whose very Constitution avows the principle of a full 
and indiscriminate religious toleration. 

" He who thinks it hard that he shall not be allowed to combat, 
through the medium of the school libraries, beliefs, the sin and 
error of which are as clear to him as is the light in Heaven, will 
bear in mind that the library at least leaves him and his religious 
beliefs, in as good a condition as it found him. If it will not pro- 
pagate his tenets, it will leave them unattacked. If he is not allow- 
ed to use other men's money to purchase books to assault their re- 
ligious faiths, he is not estopped from expendmg his own as 
sees fit, in his private, or in his Sunday-school library — nor is he 
debarred from placing these books in the hands of all who are 
willing to receive them. His power of morally persuading his 
fellow men is left unimpaired; nor will he, if he has any confi- 
dence in the recuperative energies of truth — if he believes his 
God will ultimately give victory to truth — ask more. In asking, 
or condescending to accept the support of an earthly ""government, 
he admits the weakness of his cause, the feebleness of his faith. 
He leans on another arm than that which every page in the Bible 
declares all-sufficient. In what age of the world has any church 
entered into meretricious connexion with temporal governments, 
and escaped unsullied from the contact ? Any approximation to 
such connexion, even in the minutest particular — any exclusive 
right or immunity given to one religious sect or another in the 
school library or elsewhere, is not only anti-religious, but anti-re- 
publican. As men we have the right to adopt religious creeds, 
and to attempt to influence others to adopt them ; but as Ameri- 
cans, as legislators or officials dispensing privileges or immunities 
among American citizens, we have no right to know one religion 
from another. The persecuted and wandering Israelite comes 
here, and he finds no bar in our naturalization laws. The mem- 
bers of the Roman, Greek, or English church equally become 
citizens. Those adopting every hue of religious faith — every 
phase of heresy, take their place equally under the banner of the 
Eepublic — and no ecclesiastical power can snatch even 'the least 
of these' from under its glorious folds. Not an hour of confine- 
ment, not the amercement of a farthing, not the deprivation of a 
right or liberty weighing ' in the estimation of a hair ' can any such 
power impose on any American citizen, without his own full an 
entire acquiescence." 

With reference to the admission of novels, romances, and other 
works of the imagination, usually comprehended under the term 
■' light reading, " the proper course to be adopted cannot be better 
illustrated than by the following extracts from a report of the ma- 



237 

jority of a committee appointed by the Board of Commissioners of 
common schools of the city of Utica, understood to be from the 
pen of William J. Bacon, Esq., to examine the books in the 
school district library of the city, and to report, among other thin^^s, 
as to the character and tendency of any objectionable works they 
might discover therein. 

" The importance of applying the funds provided by the state, 
with rigid regard to their appropriate object, is so weighty — an^ 
the temptations to misapply them, in consequence of a present 
prevailing fondness for light and equivocal literature, are so strong, 
that your committee deem it proper to enter somewhat into an ex- 
amination of the principles v/hich should govern those to whom is 
entrusted the responsible duty of making selections for school 
district libraries. 

" A library for instruction is a very different thing from a 
library for amusement. The circulating library of a place of pub- 
lic resort for invalids or persons in pursuit of ease and pleasure, 
is essentially of a trifling character : the library cf a college, or 
eminent public institute, is composed of graver and more elevated 
productions. While the book shelves of a light young man are filled 
with frivolous and amusing works, those of a student display the 
treasures of standard literature. School district libraries should 
not fall below the dignity of usefulness ; in proportion as they do, 
they foil of fulfilling the true design of their institution. 

" A consideration of the object of instituting these libraries will 
enable us to judge pretty correctly of the general character of 
books which should compose them ; it is obviously, the informa- 
tion and improvemeni of the body of the people who can read, 
without reference to parties, sects, classes, callings, or professions. 
'The primary object of their institution,' says the Superintendent 
who recommended it, ' was to disseminate works suited to the in- 
tellectual improvement of the great body of the people, rather than 
to throw into school districts for the use of young persons, works 
of a merely juvenile character.' It was, in the language of a suc- 
ceeding Superintendent, 'to diffuse information — not only, or even 
chiefly, among children or minors — but among adults and 
those who have finished their common school education.' It 
was, in short, to pi'ovide a supplemental source of instruction to 
those on whom the common school has exhausted its more limited 
means. 

"Improvement and information, then, form the main object of 
these libraries. It is only thus that they become the proper sub- 
jects of public munificence. Entertainment, simply as entertain- 
ment,is not to be regarded in making selections for the school district 
library. It is no part of our public policy to provide amusements 
for the people. In this particular we have improved not only on 
antiquity, but on many modern governments, by substituting, in 
the place of vain and wasteful public shows and frivolities, those 
more substantial and elevating subjects of public bounty, which 



238 

consist in permanent and wise institutions, designed to fit our citi- 
zens for tlie proper discharge of their duties as members of a great 
community, whose duration and prosperity depend upon the know- 
ledge and virtue of the people. 

" We first teach the children of the republic to read, and to ap- 
preciate instruction. We lead them to thirst for information, and 
then seek to open the fountains which may satisfy that thirst. 
The common school is the first step in their advancement — the 
school district library is partially designed to be the second. It 
supplies infoi-mation of a more varied and extensive sort — and if that 
information comes clothed in allurements of a virtuous, or entertain- 
ment of an innocent character, it is the more welcome on that 
account. These are mere incidents, however — when they appear 
alone, they want that substantial recommendation wbicli is neces- 
sary to secure their introduction into the school district libraiy. 
Books designed for amusement simply — to while away a vacant 
hour, and be forgotten like ephemera— are evidently no worthy 
occupants of the shelves of such a library. There is enough which 
is instructive and substantial to exhaust the public liberality, with- 
out squandering the well-meant beneficence of the state in tran- 
sient and trivial publications, which amuse to-day and to-morrow 
are rubbish. ' The books, therefore,' says one of the Superintend- 
ents before quoted, ' should be such as will be useful among the 
inhabitants generally. They should not be children's books, oi' 
of a juvenile character, or light and frivolous tales and romances; 
but works conveying solid information, which will excite a thirst 
for knowledge, and also gratify it, as far as such a library can.' " 

The following remarks from the annual report of the Superin- 
tendent of common schools, for the year 1844, will exhibit more 
fully the view taken of this branchof the subject by the depart- 
ment : 

" There is reason to apprehend that the officers charged with 
the duty of selecting books for these libraries have too generally 
failed to appreciate the importance of a suitable pi-ovision for the 
intellectual and moral wants of the children of the district. Much 
misapprehension has existed on this subject, in consequence of 
the general prohibition, contained in the instructions heretofore 
communicated from this department, against the introduction into 
the school libraries of books of 'a merely juvenile character.' The 
true principles upon which the selections for these institutions 
should be made, may be clearly inferred, as well from the original 
design of the appropriation, as from the contemporaneous exposi- 
tion of the Superintendent, under whose immediate auspices it 
was first carried into effect. The distribution of the fund pro- 
vided for this purpose, was directed by the act under which it was 
supplied, to be made 'in like manner and upon the like condition 
as the school moneys are now or shall hereafter be distributed, 
except that the trustees of the several districts shall appropriate 
the sum received to the purchase of a district library,' The amount 



239 

of library money, therefore, under this provision, to which each 
district became entitled, was in proportion to the number of child- 
ren between the ages of five and sixteen, residing therein, com- 
pared with the aggregate number in all the districts, and not in 
proportion to the adult population merely, or the whole population 
combined. The primary object of the institution of district libra- 
ries, was declaimed in the circular of Gen. Dix accompanying the 
publication of the act of 1838, to be 'to disseminate works suited 
to the intellectual improvement of the great body of the people, 
rather than to throw into school districts for the use of the young, 
hooks of a merely juvenile character ; and that by collecting a large 
amount of useful information, where it will be easily accessible, 
the influence of these establishments can hardly fail to be in the 
highest degree salutary to those who have finished their common 
school education, as well as to those who have not. The object 
in view will probably be best answered by having books suitable 
for all ages above ten or twelve years, though the proportion for 
those of mature age ought to be by far the greatest.' When it is 
considered that the foundations of education are laid during the 
period of youth, and that the taste for reading and study is, with 
rare exceptions, formed and matured at this period, if at all, the 
importance of furnishing an adequate supply of books, adapted to 
the comprehension of the immature but expanding intellect — suit- 
ed to its various stages of mental growth, and calculated to lead it 
onward by a gradual transition, from oije field of intellectual and 
moral culture to another, cannot fail to be appreciated. And even 
if the intellectual wants of many of the inhabitants of the districts, 
of more mature age, are duly considered, it admits of little doubt 
that a due proportion of works of a more familiar and elementary 
character than are the mass of those generally selected, would 
have a tendency not only to promote, but often to create that taste 
for mental pursuits which leads by a rapid and sure progression 
to a more extended acquaintance with the broad domains of know- 
ledge. Those whose circumstances and pursuits in life, have hith- 
erto precluded any systematic investigation of literary subjects, 
and who, if they possessed the desire, were debarred the means of 
intellectual improvement now brought within their reach, can 
scarcely be expected to pass at once to that high appreciation of 
useful knowledge, which the perusal of elaljorate treatise on any 
of the numerous branches of science or metaphysics requires ; and 
the fact brought to view by the annual reports of the County Su- 
perintendents, that by far the greater proportion of the inhabitants 
of the several districts neglect to avail themselves of the privileges 
of the library, indicates too general a failure, to supply these in- 
stitutions with the requisite proportion of elementary books. 

" In the selection of books for the district libraries, suitable 
provision should be made for every gradation of intellectual ad- 
vancement ; from that of a child, whose insatiable curiosity eager- 
ly prompts to a more intimate acquaintance with the world of mat- 



240 

ter and of mind, to that of the most finished scholar, who is pre- 
pared to augment his stock of knowledge by every means which 
may be brought within his reach. The prevalence of an enlight- 
ened appreciation of the requirements of our people in this respect, 
has already secured the application of the highest grade of mental 
and moral excellence to the elementary departments of literature : 
and works adapted to the comprehension of the most immature 
intellect, and at the same time conveying the most valuable in- 
formation to more advanced minds, have been provided — wholly 
free, on the one hand, from that puerility which is fit only for the 
nursery, and on the other, from those generalizations and assump- 
tions which are adapted only to advanced stages of mental progress. 
A more liberal infusion of this class of publications, sanctioned 
by the approbation of the most experienced friends of education 
into our district libraries, would, it is confidently believed, remove 
many of those obstacles to their general utility, which otherwise 
are liable to be perpetuated from generation to generation."- 

It is the duty of the trustees to provide a plain and sufiicient 
case for the library, with a good lock, if the district shall have 
neo-lected to do so. They are also to cause the books and case to 
be repaired as soon as may be, when injured ; and to provide suf- 
ficient wrapping paper to cover their books, and the necessary 
writing paper to enable the librarian to keep minutes of the de- 
livery and return of books. These are proper expenses for the 
preservation and repair of the books, and are to be defrayed by a 
tax on the district, which is to be added by the trustees to any tax 
voted by a district meeting. It is not necessary that the tax to 
defray these expenses should be voted by the inhabitants of the 
district ; it is to be assessed and collected in the same manner as 
a tax for building or repairing a school-house, or to furnish it with 
necessary fuel and appendages. 

The trustees of each school district are required, at the time of 
making their annual reports, to deliver to the Town Superinten- 
dent of common schools of their town, a catalogue containing the 
titles of all the books in the district library, not previously report- 
ed, with the number of volumes of each set or series, and the con- 
dition of such books, whether sound, or injured, or defaced. This 
catalogue must be signed by them and by the librarian. 

Trustees are authorized by the regulations of the Superintendent 
in pursuance of law, to impose the following fines : 

1st. For each day's detention of a book beyond the time allowed 
by the regulation, six cents, but not to be imposed for more than 
ten days' detention. 

2d For the destruction or loss of a book, a fine equal to the 
full value of the book, or of theset, if it be one of a series, with 
the addition to such value of ten cents for each volume. And on 
the payment of such fine, the party fined shall be entitled to the re- 
sidue of the series. If he has also been fined for detaining such 
book, then the said ten cents shall not be added to. the value. 



241 

3d. For any injury which a book may sustain after it shall be 
taken out by a borrower, and before its return, a fine may be im- 
posed of six cents for every spot of grease or oil upon the cover or 
upon any leaf of the volume; for writing in or defacing any book 
not less than ten cents, nor more than the value of the book ; for 
cutting or tearing the cover, or the binding, or any leaf, not less 
than ten cents, nor more than the value of the book. 

4th. If a leaf be torn out, or so defaced or mutilated that it 
cannot be read, or if any thing be written in the volume, or any 
other injury done to it, which renders it unfit for general circula- 
tion, the trustees will consider it a destruction of the book, and 
will impose a fine accordingly, as above provided in case of loss 
of a book. 

t" 5th. When a book shall have been detained seven days beyond 
the twenty days allowed by the regulations, the librarian is to 
give notice to the borrower to return the same within three days. 
If H'it returned at that time, the trustees may consider the book 
lost or destroyed, and may impose a fine for its destruction in ad- 
dition to the fines for its detention. 

Previous to the imposition of any fine, two days' written or 
rerbal notice is to be given by any trustee, or the librarian, or any 
other person authorized by either of them, to the person charged, 
to show cause why he should not be fined/or the alleged offence 
or neglect ; and if within that time good cause be not shown, the 
trustees must impose the fine herein prescribed. No other excuse 
for an extraordinary injury to a book, that is, for such an injury 
as would not be occasioned by its ordinary use should be received, 
except the fact that the book was as much injured when it was 
taken out by the person charged, as it was when he returned it. 
As such loss must fall on some one, it is more just that it should 
be borne by the party whose duty it was to take care of the 
volume, than by the district. Negligence can be prevented, and 
disputes avoided, only by the adoption of this rule. Subject to 
these general principles the imposition of all, or any of these fines, 
is discretionary with the trustees, and they should ordinarily be 
imposed only for wilful or culpably negligent injuries to books, 
or where the district actually sustains a loss, or serious injury. 
Reasonable excuses for the detention of the books beyond the 
twenty days, should in all cases be received. 

The librarian is to inform the trustees of every notice given by 
him to show cause against the imposition of a fine ; and they are 
to assemble at the time and place appointed by him, or by any 
notice given by them, or any one of them ; and to hear the charge 
and defence. They are to keep a book of minutes, in which every 
fine imposed by them, and the cause, shall be entered and signed 
by them, or the major part of them. Such original minutes, or a 
copy certified by. them, or the major part of them, or by the clerk 
of the district, is made conclusive evidence of the fact that a fine 
16 



242 

was imposed as stated in such minute3,according to the regulations. 
It is the duty of trustees to prosecute promptly for the collec- 
tion of all fines imposed by them. Fines collected for the deten- 
tion of books, or for injuries to them, are to be applied to defray 
the expense of repairmg the books in the library. Fines collec- 
ted for the loss or destruction of any book, or of a set or series of 
books, are to be applied to the purchase of the same or other 
suitable books. 

VII. ANNUAL REPORT OF TRUSTEES. 
1. WHEN TO BE MADE, AND WHAT TO CONTAIN. 

By section 116 of the act of 1847, (No. 136,) trustees are re- 
quired to make and transmit their annua) reports to the Tovra 
Superintendent, between xhe first and fifteenth days of January 
in each year. By § 115, (No. 137,) such report is to be dated 
on the first day of January, and must specify : 

1. The whole time any school has been kept in their district 
during the year ending on the day previous to the date of such 
report, and distinguishing what portion of the time such school 
has been kept by qualified teachers : 

2. The amount of moneys received from the Town Superin- 
tendent of common schools, during such year, and the manner in 
which such moneys have been expended : 

3. The number of children taught in the district during such 
year, and the name and age of each child : 

4. The name and age of each child residing in the district, on th6 
last day of December previous to the making of such report, over 
theage of four years and under twenty-one years of age, (except In- 
dian children, otherwise provided for by law,) and the names of 
the parents or other persons with whom such children shall re- 
spectively reside and the number of children residing with each. 

5. The amount of money paid for teachers' wages, in addition 
to the public money paid therefor, the amount of taxes levied in 
said district for purchasing school-house sites, for building, hiring, 
purchasing, repairing and insuring school-houses, for fuel, for sup- 
plying deficiencies in rate-bills, for district libraries or for any 
other purpose allowed by law, and such other information in 
relation to the schools and the districts as the Superintendent of 
common schools may from time to time require- 
By virtue of the authority conferred on the Superintendent, 

under this provision, they are also required to state in their an- 
nual reports, 

1. The number of books belonging to their district library on 
the last day of December in each year : 

2. The number of times the school in their district has been 
inspected and visited by the Town Superintendents, respectively, 
during the year reported : 

3. The names of the several school books in use in the school 
in their district, during such year ; 



248 

4. The number of pupils who have attended the school in said 
district for a term less than two months, during the said year ; the 
Mumber attending two, and less than four months ; the number 
attending four and less than six months ; the number attending 
six and less than eight months ; the number attending eight and 
less than ten months ; the number attending ten and less than 
twelre months; and the number attending twelve months: 

5. The number of select and private schools in their district, 
other than incorporated seminaries, and the average number of 
pupils attending them during the preceding year : 

6. The number of colored children between the ages of four 
and twenty-one years, attending any school for such children 
established in the district, and instructed therein at least six 
months by a teacher duly licensed, specifying the number attend- 
ing from different districts, designating such districts, and the 
Bumber from eac^^ the amount of public money received from the 
Town Superintendent for such schools, during the year ending 
with the date of their report, and the amount paid for the compen- 
sation of such teacher, over and above the public money so received. 

One of the most important items in the annual report of trustees 
is the number of children residing in the district between the ages 
of 4 and 21, as it affords the most sure and practical test of the 
progress of primary education. There is reason to believe, that 
the reports have heretofore been very inaccurate in this respect. 
Some difficulty has, it is true, been experienced in determining 
with the requisite precision, the children proper to be included 
•within the boundaries of the several districts ; but the specific pro- 
visions of the late act, § 118, (No. 138,) will, it is believed, remove 
every difficulty of this kind. By that section it is required that 
the reports shall include all children over 4 and under 21, who, at 
the date of the report, are actually in the district, composing part 
of the family of their employers, &c., residing at the time in the 
district, although such residence, — that is of the employers, 
parents, &c., be temporary. But children belonging to the family 
of a person who is an inhabitant of another district, are not to be 
included. If therefore a person who is not an inhabitant of some 
other district, resides temporarily in a given district, all the child- 
ren belonging to his family are to be reported. The law embraces 
a class of persons who were not before enumerated in any dis- 
trict — those whose parents or employers had not gained a residence 
in the state. 

Children attending an academy, are to be enumerated, only 
where their parents are actually residents of the district in which 
the academy is situated. — Com. School Dec. 58. 

Trustees are expressly prohibited by law from including in their 
enumeration children supported at a county poor-house, § 117, 
(No. 137.) 

The children of a man removing on the last day of December 
from one district to another, are to be enumerated in the district 
into which he moves. The enumeration is made with a view to 



244 

the apportionment of the money for the succeeding year ; and it is 
proper that the money drawn upon the basis of that enumeratioff 
should as far as possible, go to the district in which the children 
enumerated are to reside, and in which the money received for 
their benefit is to be expended. — Com. School Dec, 216. 

A man cannot, however, gain a residence in a place unless he 
goes there with the intention of remaining. Where, therefore, an 
inhabitant of a school district leaves such district with the whole 
or a portion of his family a few days previous to the last of De- 
cember, and goes into another district, where after remaining a 
few days, he returns to the former district, his children are never- 
theless to be enumerated by the trustees of the district to which he 
evidently belongs. — Per Young, Sup't. 

Form of a district report to he made hy the Trustees to the Town 
Superintendent of Common Schools. 

To the Town Superintendent of common schools of the town of 

We, the trustees of school district number in said town, in 
conformity with the statutes relating to common schools, do certify 
and report,that the whole time any school has been kept in our dis- 
trict during the year ending on the date hereof, and since the date 
of the last report for the said district is, \_here insert the whole time 
any school has been kept in the district school-house, although for a 
part of that time it may have been kept hy teachers not duly quali- 
fied,'] and that during said year and since the date of said last 
report such school has been kept by a teacher [or teachers as the 
ease may he,] after obtaining a certificate of qualification, accor- 
ding to law, is \Jiere insert the time with precision:] that the 
amount of money apportioned to our district by the Tovrn Super- 
intendent of common schools during the said year and since the 
date of the said last report, except library money, is [here insert 
the whole amount, excepting library money, although it .may have 
been received in whole or in part by predecessors in office,] and that 
the said sum has been applied on our order to the payment of the 
compensation of teachers employed in the said district and licen- 
sed as the statute prescribes. [If the amount apportioned has 
not beeji expended, the reason for such omission should be particu- 
larly specified.] That the amount of library money received in 
our district from the Town Superintendent of common schools 
during said year and since the date of the said last report, is [here 
insert the whole amount of library money, although it may have 
been received in whole or in part by predecessors in office,] and 
that the said sum has been applied to the purchase of a library 
for the district, [or to the purchase of a map of the State of New 
York, a terrestrial globe, a black-board, 8^c., (specifying particularly 
the articles purchased) in pursuance of a vote of the district at a 
special meeting called and held aocording to law.] That the 
number of volumes belonging to the district library and on hand 
on the last day of December last, is [here insert the whole number 



345 

of volumes.~\ That the number of children taught in said distriot, 
during said year and since last report is [here insert the same, not 
by conjecture, but by reference to the teachers' list, or other authen- 
tic sources.'] That of the said children (10) attended less than 
two months; (5) two months and less than four; (8) four months 
and less than six ; (4) six months and less than eight ; eight 
months and less than ten ; ten months and less than twelve i 
twelve months. And that the number of children residing in our 
district on the last day of December last, who are over four and 
under twenty-one years of age, is [here insert the number, taking 
in such as resided in the district on the last day of December, and 
who were then over jour and under twenty-one years of age,~\ and 
that the names of the parents, and other persons with whom such 
children respective reside, and the number residing with each are 
contained in schedule A. annexed. 

[If a colored school has been taught in the district the following 
shoidd be added ;] 

That the number of colored children between the ages of 4 and 
twenty -one years attending a school taught in our district during 
the year aforesaid, by a licensed teacher for at least six months, 
was [24;] of whom [10] resided in said district, [5] attending 
from district No. 5, [4] from district No. 7, [2] from district No. 
6, and [3] from district No. 19. That the whole amount of pub- 
lic money received from the Town Superintendent of common 
schools of our town, during the year aforesaid, for the use of said 
colored school, was S and that the said sura has been applied 
to the compensation of the teacher thereof; and that the amount 
paid to such teacher, over and above the public money so receiv- 
ed, was $ .] 

And we further report, that our school has been visited by the 
Town Superintendent times, during the year preceding this 
report, and that the sum paid for teachers' wages, over and above 
the public moneys apportioned to said district, during the same 
year, amounts to $ . [Is to be filled with the sum total of all 
the school bills for the year, after applying the school money to the 
payment of such wages] That the school books in use in said 
district during said year, are the following, viz : [Here specify 
the titles of all the text books used in the school during the several 
terms. That there have been private or select schools, not 
incorporated, taught in said district during the year aforesaid, and 
that the average number of pupils in attendance therein was. 
[Here state the number as near as can he ascertained.] 

Dated at the first day of January, in the year of our 

Lord one thousand eight hundred and 

A. B. 

C. D. y Trustees, 

E. F. 



046 

Form of a District Report, where the district is formed out offto^ 
or more adjoining towns. 

To the Town Superintendent of common schools of the town of 

We, the trustees of school district number , formed partly 
out of said town, and partly out of the adjoining town of , do, in 
conformity with the statutes relating to common schools, certify and 
report, 

That the school house in said district is situated in the town 
of . That the whole time any school has 

been kept in our district, during the year ending on the date 
thereof, and since the date of the last report for said dis- 
trict, is [^here insert the whole time any school has been kept 
in the district school-house, although Jor a part of that time it 
may have been kept by teachers duly qualified^ and that the time 
during said year and since the date of said last report, such school 
has been kept by a teacher, \or teachers, as the case may 5e,] after 
obtaining a certificate of qualification according to law is [here in- 
sert the time with precision^l That the amount of money appor- 
tioned to our district by the Town Superintendents of common 
schools, during the said year, and since the date of the said last 
report, excepting library money, is [here insert the whole amount 
excepting library money, although it may have been received in 
whole or in part by predecessors in office,"] and that of the said sum 
of money so as above stated to have been apportioned to our said 
district, to be applied to the payment of teachers' wages, the sum 
of was apportioned for and on account of that part of said dis- 

trict lying in the said town of and the sum of for and 

on account of the other part thereof lying and being in said towa 
of and that the said sum has been applied, on our order, to 

the payment of the compensation of teachers employed in said 
district, and licensed as the statute prescribes. That the amount 
of library money received in our district from the Town Superin- 
tendent of common schools during said year, and since the date of 
said last report, [here insert the whole amount of library money y 
although it may have been received in whole or in part by predeces- 
sors i'k office,"] that of the said sum of money so as above stated 
to have been received in our said district for the purchase of a 
(district library the sum of was received for and on account 

of that part of said district lying in said town of and the 

sum of for and on account of the other part thereof lying 

and being in the said town of and that the said sum was, 

on or before the first day of October last, applied to the purchase 
of a library for the district, [or to the purchase of maps, globes, SfC. 
(specifying the articles purchased) in pursuance of a vote of the 
district at a special meeting called and held in the manner pre- 
scribed by law.] That the number of volumes belonging to the 
district library and on hand on the last day of December last, is 
[here insert the whole number of volumes.] That the number of 



children taught in said district during said year, and since said 
last report, is [here insert the same, not by conjecture, but by re- 
ference to the teachers' list or other authentic sources.~\ That of 
the said children [10] attended less that two months, [8] two 
months and less than four, [6] four months and less than six, [8] 
six months and less than eight, [3] eight months and less than ten, 
ten months and less than twelve, twelve months. And that 
the number of children residing in our district on the last day of 
December last, who were over four and under twenty-one years 
of age, is [here insert the number, taking in such as actually re- 
side in the district on said day, and who were then over four and 
tmder twenty-one years of age, '\ and that the names of the parents 
or other persons with whom such children respectively reside, 
and the number residing with each are contained in schedule A. 
annexed. 

\_lf a colored school has been taught in the district the folloudng 
should be added :] 

That the number of colored children between the ages of 5 and 
16 years attending a school taught in our district during the year 
aforesaid, by a licensed teacher for at least four months, (24,) of 
whom (lOJ reside in said district, (5 J attended from district No. 
5, (4) from district No. 7, (2) from district No. 6, and (3j from 
district No. 19. That the whole amount of public money received 
from the Town Superintendent of common schools of our town 
during the year aforesaid, for the use of said colored school, was 
% , and that the said sum has been applied to the compensa- 
tion of the teacher thereof; and that the amount paid to such 
teacher over and above the public money so received, was $ .] 
That of the said children, so as above stated to have been taught 
in our said district, the number belonging to that part of said dis- 
trict lying in said town of is , and that the number 
belonging to the other part thereof, lying in said town of is 
. That of the said children between the said ages of four 
fwid twenty-one years, so as above, stated to reside in our district, 
the number residing in that pait of said district lying in said town 
of is , and that the number residing in the other part 
thereof, lying in said town of is 

And we do further report that our school has been inspected by 
the Town Superintendent during the past year [once or twice, 
«r not at all, as the case may be.] That the sum paid 
for teachers' wages in said district, over and above the pub- 
lic money apportioned to said district, during the same year, 
amounts to $ cents, of which dollars cents, 

were paid by that part of the district lying in the town of 
and dollars cents, by that part lying in the town 

of 



248 

f [ This blank is to be filed with the sum total of all the school bilk 
for the year, which are made out after applying the school money 
to the payment of the teachers' wages.~\ 

That the school books in use in said district, during said year, 
are the following, viz : \_Here specify the title of all the text boohs 
used in the school during the several terms.^ That there have been 
private or select schools, not incorporated, taught in said dis- 
trict during the year aforesaid, and that the average number of 
pupils in attendance therein was \_here state the number as near as 
can be ascertained.!^ 

Dated at , this first day of January in the year of our Lord 

one thousand eight hundred and 

A. P.) 

C. D. ) Trustees. 
E. F. ) 
By § 145 of the act of 1847, (No. 168,) "Town Superintendents 
of common schools, and trustees and clerks of school districts, re- 
fusing or wilfully neglecting to make any repCrt, or to perform 
any other duty required by law, or by regulations or decisions made 
under the authority of any statute, shall severally forfeit to their 
town, or to their district, as the case may be, for the use of the 
common schools therein, the sura of ten dollars for each such neg- 
lect or refusal, which penalty shall be sued for and collect- 
ed by the supervisor of the town, and paid over to the proper of- 
ficers, to be distributed for the benefit of the common schools in the 
town or district to which such penalty belongs ; and when the 
share of school or library money apportioned to any town or dis- 
trict, or school, or any portions thereof, or any money to which a 
town or district would have been entitled, shall be lost in conse- 
quence of any wilful neglect of official duty by any Town Super- 
intendent of common schools, or trustees or clerks of school dis- 
tricts, the officers guilty of such neglect shall forfeit to the town 
or district the full amount, with interest, of the moneys so lost ; and 
they shall be jointly and severally liable for the payment of such 
forfeiture." 

By § 123, of the school act, (No. 143,) "Every trustee of a 
school district, or separate neighborhood, who shall sign a false re- 
port to the Town Superintendent of common schools of his town, 
with the intent of causing such Town Superintendent to apportion 
and pay to his district or neighborhood, a larger sum than its just 
proportion of the school moneys of the town, shall, for each offence, 
forfeit the sum of twenty-five dollars, and shall also be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor." 

By § 15 of chap. 382, of Laws of 1849, « Whenever it shall be 
satisfactorily proven to the State Superintendent that any county 
or town superintendent, or other school officer, has embezzled the 
public money, or any money coming into his hands for school pur- 
poses, or has been guilty of the wilful violation of any law, or 
neglect of any duty or of disobeying any decision, order or^regu- 



249 

lation of the Department of Common Schools, the State Superin- 
tendent is hereby authorised to remove such officer from such office, 
by an order under the seal of office of the Secretary of State." 

VIII. TRUSTEES ACCOUNTING TO THEIR SUCCESSORS, PAY INQ 
OVER BALANCES AND DELIVERING PAPERS TO THEM. 

By § 125, et. seq. of the school act, (No. 145, et. seq.,) "The 
trustees of each school district sliall, once in each year, render to 
the district, at its annual meeting, a just and true account, in wri- 
ting, of all moneys received by them respectively, for the use of 
their district, and of the manner in which the same shall have 
been expended ; which account shall be delivered to the district 
clerk, and be filed and recorded by him. Any balance of such 
moneys, which shall appear from such account to remain in the 
hands of the trustees, or either of them, at the time of rendering 
the account, shall immediately be paid to some one or more of their 
successors in office. Every trustee who shall refuse or neglect to 
render such account, or to pay over any balance so found in his 
hands, shall, for each offence, forfeit the sum of twenty-five dol- 
lars, 

" It shall be the duty of his successors in office, or of the Town 
Superintendent, to prosecute without delay, in their nnme of office, 
for the recovery of such forfeiture ; and the moneys recovered 
shall be applied by them to the use and benefit of their district 
schools. Such successors shall also have the same remedies for 
the recovery of any unpaid balance in the hands of a former trus- 
tee, or his representatives, as are given to the Town Superintend- 
ent of Common Schools against a former Superintendent and his 
representatives ; and the moneys recovered shall be applied by 
them to the use of their district, in the same manner as if they 
had been paid without suit. All bonds or securities taken by the 
trustees from the collector of their district, shall, on the expiration 
of their office, be delivered over by them to their successors in of- 
fice." 

IX. SUITS BY AND AGAINST TRUSTEES. 
I. SUITS BY TRUSTEES. 

By § 74, Laws of 1847, (No. 96,) trustees are authorized to 
sue for and recover the moneys due upon any security taken by 
them or their predecessors in office, on the sale of the school-house 
and site of their district, in the cases provided for by that section, 
with interest and costs. 

By § 89, (No. 112,) trustees are authorized to prosecute for the 
amount due on a tax list or rate-bill, against non-residents of their 
district, where no goods or chattels can be found in the district 
whereon to levy. 



250 

By § 114, (No. 134,) they are directed, in case the moneys ap- 
portioned to their district are withheld by the Town Superintend- 
ent, to prosecute for the recovery thereof, with interest, or to pur- 
sue such other remedy for the recovery thereof as is or shall be 
given by law. This provision, it is supposed, is applicable only t© 
cases of illegal detention in the hands of the Town Superintendent 
of money apportioned to a district, and not to the withholding of 
such money in consequence of the discovery of some illegality or 
informality in the reports from the districts. Where the right of 
the district to its share is incontestible, and the amount is still with 
held for any reason, the trustees are directed to prosecute, and the 
proper remedy in such a case would be an action of assumpsit for 
money had and received to the use of the district or teacher against 
such Town Superintendent. 

By § 128, (No. 148,) trustees are directed to prosecute their 
predecessors for the recovery of the forfeiture of twenty -five dol- 
lars, incurred by a refusal or neglect to account, or to pay over any 
balance due from them, on the expiration of their term of office, 
and to apply the money recovered to the use and benefit of their 
school ; and by § 129, (No. 149,) they are authorized to prosecute 
for any unpaid balance in the hands of a former trustee, or his rep- 
resentatives, and directed to apply the amount recovered to the use 
of the district, in the same manner as if it had been paid without 
suit. 

By § 102, (No. 125,) they are also authorized to prosecute for 
the recovery, with interest and costs, of all forfeitures incurred by 
a collector, and unpaid balances in his hands, and to apply the mo- 
neys recovered in the same manner as if paid without suit. 

By § 61, (No. 83,) trustees are to prosecute for the recovery of 
the fine of ten dollars, with costs of suit, imposed upon any 
inhabitant, voting at any school district meeting, without being 
qualified. 

2. SUITS AGAINST TRUSTEES. 

It is conceived that an essential service may be rendered to offi- 
cers connected with common schools, by informing them of some 
general principles to show the extent of their liability to suits by 
individuals. 

Officers required by law to exercise their judgments are not an- 
swerable for mistakes of law, or mere errors of judgment, without 
any fraud or malice. Jenkins vs. Waldrori, llth Johnson's Re- 
ports, 114. 

A public officer who is required by law to act in certain cases, 
according to his judgment or opinion, and subject to penalties for 
his neglect, is not liable to a party for an omission arising from a 
mistake or want of skill, if acting in good faith. Seaman vs. Pat- 
ten, 2d Gaine's Reports, 312. 

But an officer entrusted by the common law or by statute, is liar 
ble to an action for negligence in the performance of his trust, or 



251 

for fraud or neglect in the executionof his oflSce. Jenner vs. Jo- 
Uffe, 9 John. Rep. 381. 

And an officer who commands an act to be done by issuing a 
warrant or other process, if he act without jurisdiction of the sub- 
ject matter, or of the person, is liable as a trespasser. Horton vs. 
Auchmoody, 7 Wendell, 200. But if he have jurisdiction, errors 
in judgment do not subject him to an action. 

Mere irregularities in proceedings will not render an officer hav- 
ing dscretionary powers, or acting as a judge, liable to a civil suit. 
There is a large class of cases, in which the remedy is only by 
plea to the proceedings or by writ of error. — See Butler vs. Potter 
17 Johns. 145, and Griffin vs. Mitchell, 2 Cotven's Rep. 548. 

The collector or other officer who executes process, has peculiar 
protection. He is protected, although the court or officer issuing 
such process have not, in fact, jurisdiction of the case ; if on the 
face of the process, it appears that such court or officer had juris- 
diction of the subject matter, and nothing appears in such pro- 
cess to apprise the officer but that there was jurisdiction of the 
person of the party affected by the process. Savacool vs. Bough' 
ton, 5 Wendell's Reports, 170. 

A contract made by all the trustees, and signed by two, is bind- 
ing ; and where a contract is signed or a warrant issued by two 
trustees, the presence of the third will be presumed, until the con- 
trary be shown. Two trustees can contract against the will of the 
third, if he was duly notified of a meeting of the trustees, or was 
consulted and refused to act. — McKoy vs. Courtree, 9 Wendell, 
17. 

When a district votes a tax to purchase a new site, and build a 
ichool-honse thereon, where the consent of the Town Superintend- 
ent had not been obtained for a change of the site, [the district not 
being an altered one,] the trustees are liable in trespass for making 
out a tax list and issuing a warrant for the collection of such tax ; 
on the ground that the district had no authority to vote such a tax. 
Baker vs. Freeman, 9 Wendell, 36. 

Trustees are not liable as trespassers for omitting to insert the 
names of all the taxable inhabitants in the tax list, where there is 
no evidence of bad faith on their T^B,rt,—J5a^ton vs. Calendar, 11 
Wendell, 90. 

Subordinate tribunals are not liable as trespassers for acts done 
growing out of an error of judgment. — lb. 

Trustees are liable in trespass for making out their tax list up- 
on any other basis than the last assessment roll of the town, after it 
has been reviewed and finally settled by the assessors. — Alexander 
vs. Hoyt, 7 Wend. 89. 

Inhabitants of a district must vote a precise and definite sum as 
a tax for building a school-house or any other purpose, and trus- 
tees will not be authorized to issue their warrant to levy a tax un- 
dpr a general vote. — Robinson vs. Bodge, 18 Johns. 351. 



252 

Trustees in office are liable on the contracts of their predeces- 
sors for the em{)lojment of teachei'S, personally, because they have 
the means of indemnifying themselves, and those who made the 
contract are not liable after the expiration of their term of otfice. — 
Silver vs. Gumming, 7 Wendell, 181. 

The court intimate a distinction between those cases where the 
trustees are not to act unless money is previously raised, and those 
where itistobe collected subsequent to the performance of the work. 
In the first class of cases they are not to incur responsibilities be- 
yond the means in their possession; they render themselves per- 
sonall}' responsible, and their successors are not holden. The first 
class of cases would seem to include those only which are specified 
in sub. 5 of § 82, ( No. 103,) and those in which blank books, maps, 
globes, black boards and other school apparatus may be procured 
by means of a previous tax. In these cases successors are suppo- 
sed not to to be liable, unless money comes into their hands for the 
purpose. 

In all other cases, it is supposed successors are liable on the con- 
tracts of their predecessors. 

It is quite important to trustees to know that the decisions of 
this department have been, uniformly, that their costs in any suit 
cannot be paid by a vote of the district to levy a tax for that pur- 
pose, as the only purposes for which a tax can be voted are speci- 
fied in the statutes, and this is not among them. 

Questions respecting the liability of trustees for their joint acts 
and tor the acts of each other are frequently presented. It becomes 
proper to state the grounds and limits of their responsibility in this 
respect, that they may be better enabled to guard against its conse- 
quences. 

The object being to secure fidelity to the trust and to prevent 
negligence and fraud, the rules which govern in the cases of exec- 
utors, guardians and other private trustees, must be applicable to 
officers holding a similar fiduciary relation to the public, and there- 
fore the principles which have been settled in those cases by the 
courts, will be the guide in determining the extent of the liability 
of the trustees. 

The general rule, as laid down by an eminent jurist, (Story on 
Equity Jurisprudence,) and sustained by the adjudged cases, is, 
that joint trustees are responsible only for their own acts, and not 
for the acts of each other, unless they have made some agreement 
by which they have expressly agreed to be bound for each other ; 
or have, by their voluntary co-operation or connivance, enabled the 
other to accomplish an object in violation of the trust. This rule 
is exemplified in the following cases : 

1. Where money has been received jointly, all are in general 
liable for its application, and a joint receipt is presumptive evi- 
dence of the fact that it came to the hands of all ; but either may 
show that his joining in the receipt was formal or necessary, and 
that the whole of the money was in fact received by his compan- 



SMI; 

ions. And if it was misapplied before there was a reasonable op- 
portunity to control it, he would not be responsible. 

2. When by any positive act, direction or agreement, of one 
joint trustee, the money is paid over and comes to the hands of 
the others, when it might and should have been otherwise con- 
trolled or secured by both, then each will be chargeable for the 
whole. 

There is great difficulty in applying this rule to the case of 
trustees of common schools. The money for distribution cannot 
be in the hands of more than one ; there are ordinarily no means 
of insuring a control over it by all, by depositing it in a bank or 
other place of security, and there is no authority by which any 
two trustees could require the third to give security for its faithful 
disbursement. One has as much right to its custody as another. 
The simple fact, therefore, that public money has been received by 
one and misapplied, cannot in itself render the others liable. It 
would seem therefore, that there should be some act of omission 
or commission on the part of the others to render them liable for 
the misconduct of their associate ; and here the following rule 
seems better adapted to the case : 

3. If one trustee wrongfully suffer the other to detain the trust 
money a long time in his own hands without security, or should 
lend it to him on his simple note, or should join with the other in 
lending it on sufficient security, in all such cases he would be held 
liable for any loss. Of course, a trustee who has connived at or 
been privy to an embezzlement of the trust money would be liable. 
And if it be mutually agreed between them that one shall have 
the exclusive management of one part of the trust property, and 
the other of another part, both would be liable for the acts of each. 

Considering the equal rights and powers of each trustee, that 
the law has made no provision for requiring security from them, 
and the gross injustice of making an officer responsible for the 
misconduct of an associate over whom he has no control they 
ought not to be held liable for each other's acts unless there be 
some evidence of participation or connivance, like those specified 
in the third class of cases above mentioned. 

By section 108, of title 4, chap. 8, part 3, Rev. Stat., p. 476, 
vol. 2, 1st edition, [§112, p. 390. 2d edition, vol. 2,] it is provided 
that in suits against trustees of school districts, and other officers, 
" the debt, damages or costs recovered against them, shall be col- 
lected in the same manner as against individuals ; and the amount 
so collected shall be allowed to them in their official accounts." 
It is presumed that this provision does not relate to actions for 
personal delinquences, but to those only which arise out of an offi- 
cial duty. As the recoveries are to be " allowed them in their 
accounts," it is implied that they may retain the amount of monies 
in their hands, and set off the sums recovered. But this cannot 
apply to the public school moneys, as those moneys are appropri- 
ated by law to specific purposes, and cannot be diverted to any 
other. 



254 

By § 146, of the act of 1847, (No. 169,) it is provided that "in 
any suit which shall hereafter be commenced against Town Super- 
intendents of common schools, or officers of school districts, for 
any act performed by virtue of, or under color of, their offices, or 
for any refusal or omission to perform any duty enjoined by law, 
and which might have been the subject of an appeal to the Super- 
intendent, no costs shall be allowed to the plaintiff in cases where 
the court shall certify that it appeared on the trial of the causa 
that the defendants acted in good faith. But this provision shall 
not extend to suits for penalties, nor to suits or proceedings to 
enforce the decisions of the Superintendent." 

By § 1, of chap. 172, laws of 1847, as amended by chap. 388, 
laws of 1849, it is provided that " whenever a suit shall have beea 
commenced, or shall hereafter be commenced against the trustees 
of a school district, in consequence of acts by them performed in 
pursuance of and by the direction of such district, for any act 
performed by virtue of, or ander color of their office, and such suit 
shall have been finally determined, or whenever after the final 
determination of any suit commenced by or against any trustees 
or other officers of a school district, a majority of the taxable 
inhabitants of any school district shall so determine, it shall be the 
duty of the trustees to ascertain in the manner hereinafter described, 
the actual amount of all costs, charges and expenses paid by such 
officer, and to cause the same to be assessed upon and collected of 
the taxable inhabitants of said district, in the same manner as 
other taxes of said district are by law assessed and collected, and 
when so collected to pay the same over to the officer, by virtue of 
this act, entitled to receive the same ; but this provision shall not 
extend to suits for penalties, nor suits or proceedings to enforce the 
decision of the superintendent. 

By § 2. " Whenever any person mentioned-'in the first sectiom 
of this act shall have paid any costs, charges or expenses as men- 
tioned in said first section, he shall make out an account of such 
charges, costs and expenses so paid by him, giving the items there- 
of, and verify the same by his oath or affirmation ; he shall serve 
a copy of said account so sworn to, upon the trustees of the district 
against which such claim shall be made, together with a notice in 
writing that on a certain day therein specified, he will present such 
account to the board of supervisors of the county in which such 
school district shall be situated, for settlement at some legal meet- 
ing of such board ; and it shall be the duty of the officer upon 
whom such copy, account and notice shall be served, to attend at 
the time and place in such notice specified, to protect the rights 
and interests of such district upon such settlement. 

§ 3. " Upon the appearance of the parties, or upon due proof 
of service of the notice and copy of account mentioned in the second 
section of this act, if the said board shall be of opinion that such 
account or any portion thereof ought justly to be paid to the claim- 
ant, such board may by an order to be made by a majority of all 



the members elected to the same, and to be entered in its minutes 
require such account or such part thereof as such board shall be of 
opinion ought justly to be paid to the claimant, by such district to 
be so paid ; but no portion of such account shall be so ordered to 
be paid which shall appear to the said board to have arisen from 
the wilful neglect or misconduct of the claimant. The account, 
with the oath of the party claiming the same, shall be prima facie 
evidence of the correctness thereof. The board may adjourn the 
hearing from time to time as justice shall seem to require. 

§ 4. "It shall be the duty of the trustees of any school district, 
within thirty days after service of a copy of such order upon them 
to cause the same to be entered at length in the book of records 
of said district, and to issue to the collector of said district a war- 
rant for the collection of the amounf so directed to be paid, in the 
same manner and with the like force and effect as upon a tax voted 
by said district." 

It will be perceived that two classes of cases are here alluded 
to. 1st. Where suits have been brought against trustees, in con- 
sequence of the performance of any official act by them, and such 
suits shall have been finally determined ; in which case, the trustees 
may at once make out their account of costs, charges and expenses, 
verify the same, and present it to the Board of Supervisors, with- 
out any action o« the part of the district ; or they may, in their 
discretion, procure a vote of the district to that effect : and 2d, 
When suits have been brought hy or against any trustees, or other 
officers of a school district, and such suits shall have been finallr 
determined ; in which case, (with the exception of suits brought 
against trustees, as above referred to,) a vote of the district is 
necessary to authorize an account of the costs, charges and expen- 
ses, to be made out, as provided by the second section, and laid 
before the Board of Supervisors. In both cases, no tax can be 
levied on the district for the amount of such costs, charges and 
expenses, except on the order of the Board of Supervisors, as 
specified in the third section. 

IX. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISION;? APPLICABLE TO TRUSTEES. 

1. SCHOOLS FOR COLORED CHILDREN. 

By §147, of the act of 1847, (No. 179,) a school for colored 
children may be established in any district, with the approbation of 
the Town Superintendent, which is to be under the charge of the 
trustees of the district in which such school is established. Trust- 
ees, in their, annual reports, are also required particularly to spe- 
cify the number of such children over four and under twenty-one 
years of age attending such school from different districts, naming 
such districts respectively, and the number from each attending 
for six months, and instructed by a duly qualified teacher, which 
report is to form the basis of an apportionment to such school, by 
the Town Superintendent, of a share of the public money. Full 
and explicit instructions to Town Superintendents and trustees, 



256 

and the necessary forms for reports in relation to these schools, will 
be found under the appropriate heads. 

The provisions contained in this section are more particularly- 
applicable to those cities and large villages where no special legal 
provisions have been made for the instruction of colored children. 
The means provided, are, it is true, altogether insufficient to meet 
the expense which must laecessarily be incurred in the organization 
of these schools ; and inasmuch as the class of community for 
whose special benefit they are intended is generally unable to con- 
tribute to such expense in any considerable degree, the object in 
view can seldom be fully attained, but through the efforts of chari- 
table and benevolent individuals in the several districts from which 
the colored schools ai-e composed. These efforts have hitherto 
been paralyzed by the absence of any legal power to effect the ne- 
cessary organization ; and the provision now made, was doubtless 
intended to supply that defect, and to furnish a nucleus around 
which the benevolent exertions of the friends of education and 
humanity might be concentrated. If, however, in any of the 
country districts, a colored school can be organized and efficiently 
kept up for the requisite length of time, it is hoped no efforts will 
be spared to carry into effect the provisions of the section. Colored 
children are entitled equally with all others, to the privileges and 
advantages of the district school : and wherever they can be 
grouped together in a separate school, under the charge of a com- 
petent teacher, they will be far more likely to derive the full be- 
nefits of such instruction as may be best adapted to their circum- 
stances and condition, while at the same time, the disadvantages 
inseparable from their attendance at the district school, will be 
avoided. 

By Chap. 228 of the laws of 1845, (Nos. 174-178,) it is pro- 
vided that no person shall wilfully disturb, interrupt or disquiet any 
assemblage of persons met at any school district, with the assent 
of the trustees of the school district, for the purpose of receiving 
instruction in any of the branches of education usually taught in 
the common schools of this state, or in the science of music. Who- 
ever shall violate the provisions of the foregoing section, may be 
tried before any justice of the peace of the county, or any mayor, 
alderman, recorder, or other magistrate of any city where the 
offence shall be committed ; and upon conviction, shall forfeit a 
sum not exceeding twenty-five dollars, for the use and benefit of 
the school district in which such offence shall be committed. It 
shall be the duty of the trustees of any school district in which any 
such offence shall be committed, to prosecute such offender before 
any officer having cognizance of such offence. If any person con- 
victed of the offence herein prohibited, shall not immediately pay 
the penalty incurred, with the costs of conviction, or give security, 
to the satisfaction of the officer before whom such conviction shall 
be had, for the payment of the said penalty and costs within twenty 
days thereafter, he shall be committed by warrant to the common 



257 

jail of the county, until the same be paid, or for such tei-m, not ex- 
ceeding thirty days, as shall be specified in such warrant. It shall 
and may be lawful for any person who may be complained of for 
a violation of the provisions of this act, to demand of such magis- 
trate that he may be tried by a jury. Upon such demand, it shall 
be the duty of such officer to issue a venire to the proper officer, 
commanding him to summon the same number of jurors, and in the 
same manner, and the said court shall proceed to empannel a jury 
for the trial of said cause, in the same manner and subject to all 
the rules and regulations prescribed in the act providing for the 
trials by jury in courts of special sessions." 

2. BOND TO BE REQUIRED OF THE COLLECTOR. 

Trustees are authorized by § 103, (No. 126,) to require of the 
collector of their district, before delivering to him any warrant for 
the collection of moneys, a bond with one or more sureties condi- 
tioned for the faithful performance of the duties devolved upon 
him as such collector. 

It is strongly recommended to trustees to exact of the collec- 
tor, the bond authorized under this section of the school law, 
before any warrant is placed in his hands. This practice will 
be attended with very little trouble, and will secure the district 
from all loss, and the trustees themselves from personal liability, 
in many instances. It will also secure the prompt collection of 
taxes and promote system and regularity in the financial affairs of 
the district. 

Form of a Bond to he givenV)y dlDistridt Collector. 

Know all men by these presents, that we, A. B. and C. D., (the 
collector and his surety,) are held and firmly bound to E. F. and G. 
H. &c., trustees of school district number in the town of 

in the sura of (hei'e insert a sum double the amount to be collected,) 
to be paid to the said E. F., G. H., &c., trustees as aforesaid, or to 
the survivor or survivors of them, or their successors ; to the which 
payment, well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, our heirs, 
executors and administrators, firmly by these presents. Sealed 
with our seals, and dated this day of 18 &c. 

Whereas the above bounden A. B. has been chosen (or appoint- 
ed, as the case may be,) collector of the above mentioned school 
district number in the town of in conformity to the 

statutes relating to common schools ; now, therefore, the condition 
of this obligation is such that if he the said A. B. shall well and 
truly collect and pay over all moneys received by him as such col- 
lector and shall in all respects duly and faithfully execute all the 
duties of his office as collector of such district, then this obligation 
shall be void, otherwise to be in full force and virtue. 

Signed, sealed and delivered, in the pi'esence of 

A. B. [l. s.] 
C. D. [l. s.] 
17 



258 
CHAPTER F: 



DISTRICT CLERK 

The general duties of this officer are particularly specified m 
§ 74 of the school act, (No. 102.) He is to keep, in a book to be 
provided by the district, a record of the proceedings of each an- 
nual and special meeting held in his district: to give notice of the 
time, place and object of such meetings in the manner prescribed 
by law, and to preserve all records, books and papers relating to 
the district, and deliver the same, on the expiration of his official 
term, to his successor. 

By § 66 of the Laws of 1847, (No. 88,) he is to notify a spe- 
cial meeting for the election of officers, whenever the time for hold- 
ing the annual meeting has passed without such election being 
held ; and generally it his duty to give the necessary legal notices 
of a district meeting, whenever required to do so by a majority of 
the trustees. The purpose and object of such meetings should in 
all cases be set forth in general terms ; and this is specially requi-' 
red by law, when a meeting is called for the purpose of changing 
the site and removing the school-house in an unaltered district, 
[See No. 95.} And also when a tax is to be levied for the pur- 
chase of books for a district library. 

By § 69, (No. 91,) it is declared that "the proceedings of no 
district meeting, annual or special, shall be held illegal for want of 
a due notice to all the persons qualified to vote thereat, unless it 
shall appear that the omission to give such notice was wilful and 
fraudulent." But this provision will not exonerate a clerk from li- 
ability for gross neglect ; nor will it sanction an intentional omis- 
sion to give notice. 

Notices of annual and special meetings must be given at least 
five days before the day on which such meetings are directed to 
beheld; that is, the notices for a meeting to be held on Saturday 
for instance, must be given on or before the preceding Monday. 

In the case of annual meetings, or special meetings which have 
been adjourned, for a longer time than one month, a notice in wri- 
ting, affixed in at least four public places in the district, is sufficient, 
but notices o^ special meetings must be personally sensed on each 
inhabitant of the district liable to pay taxes, (which includes, of 
course, every legal voter in the district.) " by reading the notice in 
the hearing of such inhabitant, or in case of his absence from home, 
by leaving a copy thereof, or so much thereof as relates to the 
time and place of such meeting, at the place of his abode. (8 55^ 
No. 77.) 

Form of Notice for Annual Meeting. 

Notice is hereby given, that the annual meeting for the election 
of officers in District No. in the town of , 



259 

and for the transaction of such other business as the meeting may 
deem necessary, will be held at the school-house in said district on 
Mondah\, the day of at six o'clock, P. M. 

Dated this day of 

A. B., District Cleric. 

Form of a Notice for an adjnurned District Meetimi, to be posted 
up in four public places in the District. 

SCHOOL DISTRICT NOTICE. 

Notice is hereby given, that a meeting of the freeholders and in- 
habitants of school district No. in the town of 
authorized by law to vote therein, will be held at on the 
day of next, [or instant, as the case may be,] 
at o'clock in the noon, pursuant to adjournment. 
Dated this day of A. D. 18 . 

A. B. District Clerk. 

Form of a Notice for a Special District Meeting. 

To the clerk of district number 

The trustees of disti'ict number at a meeting held for 

the purpose, have resolved that a special meeting be called at the 
school-house, on the day of 18 at o'clock 

in the noon of that day, for the purpose of {choosing a col- 

lector in the place of A. B., removed, or whatever the object of tht 
meeting may be.) and for the transaction of such other business as 
the tneeting may deem necessary. 

You will therefore notify each inhabitant of the district entitled 
to vote therein, by reading this notice in his hearing, or if he is ab- 
sent from home, by leaving a copy of it, or so much as relates to the 
time and place of meeting, at the place of his abode, at least five 
days before such meeting. 

Dated at this day of 18 . 

A. B.) 

C. D V Trustees, 

E. F.) 

The district clerk of each school district in this state, is, by a 
regulation of the department, required within ten days after each 
annual or special meeting for the election of officers in his district, 
to forward to the town clerk, the names of the several officers 
elected at such meeting, and the offices to which they were respec- 
tively elected. The omission to do so, however in no respect in- 
validates the election or proceedings of the officers so chosen. 

In pursuance of § 32, of the act of 1841, the District School 
Journal is forwarded by mail, to the clerk of each district, whose 
duty it U, by that section, to cause each volume to be bound at the 
expense of the district, and to deposit the same in the district li- 
brary. He or one of the trustees is therefore bound to take the 
paper from the post-office, punctually, paying the postage, quar- 



260 

terly in advance : and the amount so paid, being an expenditure 
authorized by law, may be added by the trustees to any tax list 
thereafter made out for district purposes, and refunded to the clerk, 
or trustee paying it. Great care should be taken to secure the 
regular receipt and careful preservation of the numbers, which will 
be sent on the first of each month ; and with this view, the clerk 
should stitch them together in covers, as soon as they arrive ; and 
in no case permit them to be taken out of bis custody, although 
any inhabitant of the district should be allowed free access to them, 
for the purpose of perusal, at all proper hours. The same precau- 
tions should be observed, and the same freedom of access and per- 
usal allowed, in respect to the volume of Laws and Instructions, 
the volume of Common School Decisions and Laws heretofore pub- 
lished, and all other books, papers and documents belonging to the 
district, and placed under his official control. 

They will observe that heavy penalties and forfeitures are incur- 
red by them, under § 145 of the act of 1847, (No. 168,) for neglect 
of any duty devolved upon them by law ; and that they are made 
individually responsible for any loss that may accrue to their dis- 
trict, in consequence of such neglect, or omission. 



GHAPTER VI. 



COLLECTORS OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

It is the duty of the collector of each district to collect and pay 
over to the trustees of his district, some or one of them, all moneys "" 
which he shall be required by warrant to collect, within the time 
limited by such warrant for its return, and to take the receipt of 
such trustee or trustees, for such payment. 

When required by the trustees, such collector is to execute a 
bond with one or more sureties, for the due and faithful perform- 
ance of his duty. 

1. JURISDICTION OF THE COLLECTOR. 

By § 103, of the act of 1847, (No. 126,) the jurisdiction of the 
collector in the execution of his warrant, extends to any other dis- 
trict or town in the same county, or in any other county in the 
case of a joint district composed of parts of two or more counties, 
"in the same manner, and with the like authority, as in the dis- 
trict for which he was chosen or appointed." 

2. MODE OP PROCEEDING IN THE COLLECTION OF TAXES. 

By various provisions of the school act collectors are authorized 
and required, in the execution of warrants, delivered to them for 
the collection of tax lists to collect the amount due from the re- 
spective persons named in such warrants, in the same manner that 



261 

collectors of toions are authorized to collect town and county taxes. 
This is specifically pointed out by the following extracts from the 
13th chapter of the first volume of the Revised Statutes, (pa"-es 
397, 398.) 

" § 1. Every collector, upon receiving the tax list and warrant, 
shall proceed to collect the taxes therein mentioned, and for that 
purpose shall call at least once on the person taxed, or at the 
place of his usual residence, if in the town or ward for which such 
collector has been chosen, and shall demand payment of the taxes 
charged to him on his propei'ty. 

" § 2. In case any person shall refuse or neglect to pay the tax 
imposed on him, the collector shall levy the same by distress and 
sale of the goods and chattels of the person who ought to pay the 
same, or of any goods and chattels in his possession, wheresoever 
the same may be found within the district of the collector ; and no 
claim of property to be made thereto by any other person shall be 
available to prevent a sale. 

" § 3. The collector shall give public notice of the time and place 
of sale, and of 'he property to be sold, at least six days previous to 
the sale, by advertisements to be posted up in at least three public 
places in the town where such sale shall be made. The sale shall 
be by public auction. 

" i^ 4. If the property distrained shall be sold for more than the 
amount of the tax, the surplus shall be returned to the person in 
whose possession such property was when the distress was made, 
if no claim be made to such surplus by any other person. If any 
other person shall claim such surplus on the ground that the prop- 
erty sold belonged to him, and such claim be admitted by the per- 
son for whose tax the same was distrained, the surplus shall be 
paid to such owner ; but if such claim be contested by the person 
for whose tax the property was distrained, the surplus moneys shall 
be paid over by the collector to the supervisor of the town, who 
shall retain the same until the rights of the parties shall be deter- 
mined by due course of law." 

" No replevin shall lie for any property, taken by virtue of any 
warrant for the collection of any tax, assessment or fine, in pursu- 
ance of any statute of this state." — 2d R. S. page 522, sec. 4. 

These provisions must, however, be subject to the action of con- 
gress, on. a subject which by the Constitution is within its jurisdic- 
tion. The constitution in express terms gives to congress the 
power " to provide lor organizing, arming and disciplining the 
militia." 

By the act of congress of May 8, 1792, vol. 2, Laws of the U. 
S. 298,) every citiz-en enrolled in the militia is required to provide 
himself with the following accoutrements, viz : " a good musket or 
firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints and a knap- 
sack, a pouch with a box therein, to contain not less than twenty- 
four cartridges suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each 
cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball ; or with 



2Bf 

a good rifle, knapsack, shot ponch and powder horn, twenty balls 
suited to the boi'e of liis rifle, and a quarter of a pound ofpow<ler :" 
and the commissioned oflficers are required to be armed with a 
gword or hanger, or espontoon ; and it is declared that " evei'y 
citizen so enrolled and providing himself with the arm<, ammuni- 
tion and accoutrements required as aforesaid, shall hold the same 
exempted from all suits, distresses, executions or sales for debt or 
for the payment of taxes." 

By the laws of this state (chap. 6, part 3 title 5, § 22, vol 2, 
R. S.) the "arms and accoutrements required by law to be kept 
by any person," as well as a variety of otiier ai'ticles therein spe- 
cified, are exempt from executio7i but not from distress from tax>s. 
The only exemption, therefore, from the o|)eration of a collector's 
•wari'ant on a tax list, arises under the act of Congress be- 
fore quoted ; and this can only be extended to the arms, ammu- 
nition and accoutrements therein specified. 

In the collection of warrants on rate-hills, all property exempted 
by section 22 of article two, title five, chapter six of part three of 
the Revised Statutes, is exempt from levy and sale on such war- 
rants. For the extent of such exemption see ante pages 215, 216. 

The collector or other officer who executes process, has peculiar 
protection. He is protected, although the court or officer issuing 
such process, have not, in fact, jurisdiction of the case ; if on the 
face of the process it appears that such court or officer had juris- 
diction of the sv.hject matter, and nothing appears in such piocess 
to apprise the officer but that there was jurisdiction of the person 
of the party affTected by the process. Savacool vs. Boughton, 5 
WertdelVs Reports, 170. 

By § 100, (No. 123.) of the school act, it is the duty of the 
collector, upon receiving his warrant, for two successive weeks to 
receive such taxes as may be voluntarily paid to him ; and in case 
the whole amount shall not be so paid in, the collector shall ibrth- 
■R'ith proceed to collect the same. He shall receive for his services, 
on all sums paid as aforesaid, one per cent, and upon all sums col- 
lected by him after the expiration of the time mentioned, five per 
cent ; and in case a levy and sale shall be necessarily made by 
such collector, he shall be entitled to travelling fees, at the rate of 
six cents per mile, to be computed from the school house in such 
district. 

Where trustees receive payments on tax lists or rate-bills, they 
are regarded as receiving the same as the agents of the collector ; 
and the latter is entitled to his percentage on the amount so re- 
ceived, and may legally collect it by virtue of his warrant. The 
collector is also entitled to his percentage on the amount j)!ud by 
the trustees, notwithstanding no actual exchange of funds is made 
between the latter and the former. — Per Young, Superintendent 
1843. 

A teacher, if otherwise eligible, may be collector ; but he cannot 
charge a percentage on voluntary payments of his own wages. — 
Id, 



263 

Where a collector levies upon and sells property for the payment 
of a tax list and the owner of the property refuses to receive the 
^excess beyond an amount sutfieient to satisfy the warrant, the col- 
lector must retain the amount in his own hands, and rely upon his 
plea offender. — Com. Sch. Dec.., 217. 

In the execution of his warrant, the collector should aim to take 
property amply sutticient to satisfy the amount he is reipiired to 
collect, and no more. He is not bound to take any particular ar- 
ticle of property which may be offered: but if a< the request of the 
ozvner, he were to take and sell property worth ten times the 
amount required to be raised, such request would constitute a valid 
answer to the charge of making an excessive distress. — Id. 219. 

Where, by the neglect of a collector, moneys which might have 
been collected by him within the time limited, are lost to the dis- 
trict, he is liable for the amount, whether he has given a bond to 
the trustees or not. The bond is an additional security ; but it it is 
not required of him, he is not released from any obligation which 
the law imposes on him. — Id. 308. 

So, where a warrant runs out in his hands, he is answerable for 
any loss arising from his neglect, notwithstanding such warrant 
may have been afterwards renewed and delivered to his successor. 
—Id. 

A trustee of a school district cannot hold the office of collector. 
The same objection is not applicable to the district clerk ; although, 
as the law has created separate offices, it is better to carry out its 
intention strictly, by conferring them on difl'erent individuals. — Id. 
142. 

If the warrant annexed to a rate-bill, or tax list, is signed by a 
majority of the trustees, it is sufficient for the protection of the col- 
lector, ahhongh the third trustee ivas not, in f net, present, or consul- 
ted.— Id. 328. 

Where a warrant is renewed by the trustees, the collector in 
office at the time of such renewal, must execute it. — Id. 47. 

Where a warrant is issued for the collection of a tax which has 
not been legally assessed, according to the last assessment roll of 
the town, or otherwise, or where the trustees have included in the 
tax list persons not liable to be so included, such warrant is a pro- 
tection to the collector, notwithstanding the trustees might be an- 
Bwerable in trespass. — Jd. 282. 

A collector cannot legally sell property after the expiration of 
his warrant, unless such warrant is renewed, notwithstanding a 
previous levy. — Id. 286. 

Where the collector, in the execution of a warrant, receives 
money current at the time of its receipt, but which subsequentlj 
becomes depreciated or valueless, before payment to the trustees, 
the district, and not the collector, must lose the amount. — Per 
Spencer, Sup't, 1841. 

The collector can pay over money collected by him only to the 
Jirustees, or on their order. — Per Dix, Sup't, 1838. 



264 

Trustees have no power to indemnify a collector for improperly 
selling property under their ■warrant. — Id. 

The representatives of a deceased person are not entitled to any 
delay in the payment of a rate-bill, or tax list, but are bound to 
pay on demand : and on refusal or neglect, the collector may pro- 
ceed to sell any property found on the premises. By § 27, sub. 2, 
2 R. S. 28, taxes of all kinds have preference to any other demand. 
— Per Spencer, Sup't, 1840. 

Where a collector levies upon property out of Ms district, he- 
should put up notices of the sale of such property, as well in the 
district where the sale is to take place as in that of his residence. 
—Per Young, SupH, 1842. 



CHAPTER VII. 



LIBRARIAN. 

This officer is to be chosen at the annual meeting of the dis- 
trict. In case the inhabitants neglect at such meeting to choose 
offices, the distinct clerk becomes ex-ojficio librarian, until the 
vacancy is filled by the trustees, or by the inhabitants, at their 
next annual meeting. 

By section 137, Laws of 1847, (No. 156,) " The librarian of 
any district library shall be subject to the directions of the trustees 
thereof, in all matters relating to the preservation of the books 
and appurtenances of the library, and may be removed from office 
by them for wilful disobedience of such directions, or for any wil- 
ful neglect of duty." 

By section 139, of the same act, (No. 158,) " A set of general 
regulations respecting the preservation of school district libraries^ 
the delivery of them by librarians and trustees to their successors 
in office, the use of them by the inhabitants of the district, the 
number of volumes to be taken by any one person at any one 
time, or during any term, the periods of their return, the fines and 
penalties that may be imposed by the trustees of such libi-aries 
for not returning, losing or destroying any of the books therein, 
or for soiling, defacing or injuring them, may be framed by the 
Superintendent of common schools, and printed copies thereof 
shall be furnished to each school district of the state ; which re- 
gulations shall be obligatory upon all persons and officers having 
charge of such libraries, or using or possessing any of the books 
thereof. Such fines may be recovered in an action of debt in the 
name of the trustees of any such library, of the person on whom 
they are imposed, except such person be a minor ; in which case 
they may be recovered of the parent or guardian of such minor, 
unless notice in writing shall have been given by such parent or 
guardian to the trustees of such library, that they will not be res- 



265 

ponsible for any books delivered such minor. And persons with 
whom minors reside shall be liable in the same manner, and to 
the same extent, in cases where the parent of such minor does no! 
reside in the district." 

By ^ 141, (No. 160,) "The legal voters in any two or more ad- 
jo nmg districts may, in such cases as shall be approved by the 
town Superintendent of common schools, unite their library money* 
and funds as they shall be received or collected, and puicbase a 
joint library for the use of the inhabitants of such districts, wliich 
shall be selected by the trustees thereof, or by such persons as 
they shall designate, and shall be under the chai-ge of a librarian 
to be appointed by them ; and the foregoing provisions of this act 
shall be a])plicable to the said joint libraries, except that the pro- 
perty in them shall be deemed to be vested in all the trustees for 
the time being of the districts so united. And in case any such 
district shall desire to divide such library, such division shall be 
made by the trustees of the two district whose libraries are so 
united, and in case they cannot agree, then such division shall be 
made by three disinterested persons, to be appointed by the Super- 
intendent of common schools. 

By the regulations of the Superintendent made in pursuance of 
this provision, the librarian is required, whenever any library is 
purchased and taken charge of by him to make out a full and com- 
plete catalogue of all the books contained therein. At the foot 
of each catalogue he is to sign a receipt in the following form. 

I, A. B., do hereby acknowledge that the books specified in the 
preceding catalogue have been delivered to me by the trustees of 
school district No. in the town of to be safely kept by 

me as librarian of the said district for the use of the inhabitants 
thereof, according to the regulations prescribed by the Superintend- 
ent of common schools, and to be accounted for by me according to 
the said i-egulations to the trustees of the said district, and to be 
delivered to my successor in office. Dated, &c. 

A correct copy of the catalogue and receipt is then to be made 
to which the trustees are to add a certificate in the following 
form : 

We the subscribers, trustees of school district No. in the 

town of do certify that the preceding is a full and complete 

catalogue of books in the library of the said district now in fiosses- 
sion of A.. B., the librarian thereof, and of his receipt thereon. 
Given under our hands this day of 18 

The catalogue having the librarian's receipt, is to be delivered 
to the trustees, and a copy having the certificate of the trustees, is 
to be delivered to the librarian for his indemnity. 

Whenever books are added to the library, a catalogue with a 
similar receipt by the librarian is be delivered to to the trustee*, 
and a copy with a certificate of the trustees that it is a copy of 



266 

the catalofTue delivered them by the librarian, is to be furnished 
to him. Every catalogue I'eceiveil by trustees is to be kept by them 
carefully among the papers of the district and to be delivered to 
their succes?ors in olfice. 

Whenever a new librarian shall be chosen, all the books are to 
be called in. For this purpose the librarian is to refuse to deliver 
out any books tor fourteen days preceding the time so prescribed 
for collecting lliem together. At these periods, they must make a 
careful examination of the books, compaie them with the catalogue, 
and make written statements in a column opposite the name of 
each book, of its actual condition, whether lost or present, and 
whether in good order or injured, and if injured, specifying in 
general terms, the extent of such injury. This catalogue, with 
the remarks, is to be delivered to the successors of the trustees, to 
be kept by them ; a copy of it is to be made out, and delivered to 
the new librarian with the library, by whom a receipt in the form 
above prescribed is to be given, and to be delivered to the trustees. 
Another copy certitied by them as before mentioned, is to be de- 
livered to the libr;uian. 

Ti'ustees, on coming into office, are to attend at the library for 
the pui'pose of con)|)aring th'e catalogue with the books. They are 
•at all limes when they think proper, and especially on their com- 
ing into office, to examine the books carefully, and note such as 
are missing or injured. For every book that is missing, the libra- 
rian is accountable to the trustees for the full value thereof, an I 
for the whole series of whic i it formed a part: such value to be 
determined by the trustees. He is accountable also for any in- 
jury which a book may appear to have sustained, by being soiled, 
defaced, torn, or otherwise. And he can be relieved from such 
accountability only, by the trustees, on its being satisfactorily shown 
to them that some inhabitant of the district has been charged or is 
chai'geable for the book so missing, or for the amount of the injury 
60 done to any work. It is the duty of the trustees to take pi'ompt 
and efficient measui-es for the collection of the amount for which 
any librarian is accountable. 

The librarian must cause to be pasted in each book belonging 
to the library, a printed or written label, or must write in the first 
blank leaf of each book, specifying that the book belongs to the 
library of school district No, in the town of , naming 

the town and giving the number of the district ; and he is on no 
account to deliver out any book which has not such printed or 
wrinen declaration in it. He is also to cause all the books to be 
covei ed with strong wrapping paper, on the back of which is to 
b-e vviitten the title of the book, and its number in large figures. 
As new books are added, the numbers are to be continued, and 
they are in no case to be altered ; so that if a book be lost, its num- 
ber and tile must still be continued on the catalogue, with a note 
that it is misMng. 



267 

Thf' librarian must keep a blank book, that may be made by 
stitcbinji together half a dozen or more sheets of wii'tinj]^ [)a|)er. 
Let those be ruled across the width of the paper so as to leave five 
columns of the proper size for the following entries, to be written 
lengthwise ofthepa{)er; in the first column, the date of the de- 
liveiy of any book to any iniiabitant ; in the second, the title of 
the book delivered, and its number; in the third, the name of the 
person to whom delivered; in the fourth, the date of its return; 
and ill the fifth, remarks, respecting its condition, in the following 
form : 



Time of delivery. 


Title <fe No. Book. To whom 


When returned. 


Ouiidition.i 


1839, June 10. 


History of Va. 43. T. Jones. 


'20th June. 


Good. 1 



A< it will be impossible for the librarian to keep any trace of 
the books without such minutes, his own interest to screen himself 
from resiionsibility, as well as his duty to the public, will, it is to 
be hoped, induce him to be exact in making his entries at the time 
any book is delivered ; and when it is returned, to be equally exact 
in noticing its condition, and making the proper minute. 

A fair copy of the catalogue should be kept by the librarian, to 
be exhibited |o those who desire to select a book ; and if there be 
room, it should be fastened on the door of the case. 

EEGULATIONS CONCERNING THE USE OF THE BOOKS IN DISTRICT 
LIBRARIES PRESCRIBED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF COMMON 
SCHOOLS PURSUANT TO THE THIRD SECTION OF THE " ACT RE- 
SPECTING SCHOOL DISTRICT LIBRARIES, " PASSED APRIL lO, 1839. 

I. The librarian hns charge of the books and is responsible 
for iheir preservation and delivery to his successor. 

II A copy of the catalogue required to be mnde out by 
Article III, atid IV. of Regulations No. 1, is to be kept by the 
librarian, open to the inspection of the inhabitRtits of the district 
at all reasonable times. It will be found convenient to alfix a 
copy of It on the door of the book-cnse containing the library. 

lil. Rooks are to be delivered as follows: 
1st. Only to inhabitants of the district 
2d. One only can be didivered to an inhabitant at a time, and 

any one having a book out of the library must return it before 

he can receive another. 
8d. No person upon whom a fine has been imposed by the trus- 
tees under these regulations, can receive a book while such 

fine remains unpaid. 
4th. A person under age cannot be permitted to take out a book 

unitiss he resides with some responsible inhabitant of the dis- 
' trict ; nor can he then receive a book if notice has been given 

by his |)arent or guardian or the person with whom he resides, 

that they will not be responsible for books delivered such 

minor. 



268 

5th. Each individual residing in the district, of sufficient age to 
read the l^ooks belonging to the library, is to be regarded as 
an inhabitant, and is entitled to all the benefits and privileges 
conferred by the regulations relative to district libraries. Min- 
ors will draw in their own names, but on the responsibility of 
their parents or guardians. 

6th. Where there is a sufficient number of volumes in the library 
to accommodate all residents of the district who wish to borrow, 
the librarian should permit each member of a family to take 
books, as often as desired, so long as the regulations are punctu- 
ally and fully observed. But where there are not books enough 
to supply all the borrowers, the librarian should endeavor to ac- 
commodate as many as possible, by furnishing each family ih 
proportion to the number of its readers or borrowers. 

IV. Every book must be returned to the library within twenty 
days after it shall have been taken out, but the same inhabitant 
may again take it, unless application has been made for it, while it 
was so out of the library, by any person entitled, who has not pre- 
viously borrowed the same book, in which case such applicant shall 
have a preference in the use of it. And where there have been 
several such applicants, the preference shall be according to the 
priority in time of their applications, to be determined by the libra- 
rian. Upon application to the Superintendent, the time for keep- 
ing books out of the library will be extended to a period not ex- 
ceeding twenty-eight days, where sufficient reasons for such exten- 
tension are shown. 

V. If a book be not returned at the proper time, the librarian 
is to report the fact to the trustees ; and he must also exhibit to 
them every book which has been returned injured by soiling, de- 
facing, tearing or in any other way, before such book shall again be 
loaned out, together with the name of the inhabitant in whose pos- 
session it was when so injured. 

VI. The trustees of school districts being, by virtue of their 
office, trustees of the library, are hereby authorized to impose the 
following fines : 

1st. For each day's detention of a book beyond the time allowed 
by these regulations, six cents, but not to be imposed for more 
than ten days' detention. 

2d. For the destruction or loss of a book, a fine equal to the full 
value of the book, or of the set, if it be one of a series, with the 
addition to such value of ten cents for each volume. And on 
the payment of such fine, the party fined shall be entitled to the 
residue of the series. If he has also been fined for detaining 
such book, then the said ten cents shall not be added to the 
value. 

Sd. For any injury which a book may sustain after it shall be ta- 

■ ken out by a borrower, and before its return, a fine may be im- 
posed of six cents for every spot of grease or oil upon the cov- 
er, or upon any leaf of the volume ; for writing in or defacing 



269 

any book, not less than ten cents, nor more than the value of the 
book ; for cutting or tearing the cover or the binding, or any 
leaf, not less than ten cents, nor more than the value of the 
book. 

4tb. If a leaf be torn out, or so defaced or mutilated that it can 
not be read, or if anything be written in the volume, or any oth- 
er injury done to it, which renders it unfit for general circula- 
tion, the trustees will consider it a destruction of the book, and 
shall impose a fine accordingly, as above provided, in case of loss 
of a book. 

5th. When a book shall have been detained seven days beyond 
the twenty days allowed by these regulations, the librarian shall 
give notice to the borrower to return the same within three days. 
If not returned at that time, the trustees may consider the book 
lost or destroyed, and may impose a fine for its destruction in 
addition to the fines for its detention. 

VII. But the imposition of a fine for the loss or destruction of 
a book, shall not prevent the trustees from recovering such book in 
an action of replevin, unless such fine shall have been paid. 

VIII. When, in the opinion of the librarian, any fine has been 
incurred by any person under these regulations, he may refuse to 
d£liver any book to the party liable to such fine, until the decision 
or the trustees upon such liability be had. 

IX. Previous to the imposition of any fine, two days' written 
or verbal notice is to be given by any trustee, or the librarian, or 
any other person authorized by either of them, to the person char- 
ged, to show cause why he should not be fined for the alleged of- 
fence or neglect ; and if within that time good cause be not shown 
the trustees shall impose the fine herein presci'ibed. No other ex- 
cuse for an extraordinary injury to a book, that is for such an in- 
jury as would not be occasioned by its ordinary use, should be re- 
ceived, but the foct that the book was as much injured when it was ta- 
ken out by the person charged, as it was when he returned it. As 
such loss must fall on some one, it is more just that it should be borne 
by the party whose duty it was to take care of the volume, than 
by the district. Negligence can only be prevented, and disputes 
can only be avoided, by the adoption of this rule. Subject to these 
general principles the imposition of all, or any of these fines, is 
discretionary with the trustees, and they should ordinarily be im- 
posed only for wilful or culpably negliyent injuries to books, or 
where the district actually sustains a loss or serious injury. Rea- 
sonable excuses for the detention of the books beyond twenty days 
should in all cases be received. 

X. It is the special duty of the librarian to give notice to the 
borrower of a book that shall be returned injured, to show cause 
why he should not be fined. Such notice may be given to the 
agent of the borrower who returns the book, and it should always 
be given at the time the book is returned. 



270 

XL The librarian is to inform the trustees of every notice giv- 
en by him to show cause against the imposition of a tine ; and they 
shall assemble at the time and place appointed by him, or by any 
notice given by tliem, or any one of them ; and shall hear the 
charge and defence. They are to keep a book of minute-s, in which 
every fine imposed by them and the cause, shall be entered and 
signed by them, or the major part of them. Such original min- 
utes, or a copy certified by them, or the major part of them, or 
by the clerk of the district, shall be conclusive evidence of the fact 
that a fine was imposed as stated in such minutes, according to these 
regulations. 

XII. It shall be the duty of trustees to prosecute promptly for 
the collection of all tines imposed by them. Fines collected for the 
detention of books, or for injuries to them, are to be applied to de- 
fray the expense of repairing the books inihe library. Fines col- 
lected for the loss or destruction of any book, or of a set or series of 
books, shall be applied to the purchase of the same or other suitable 
books. 

XIII. These regulations being declared by law " obligatory up- 
on all persons and officers having charge of such libraries, or using 
or possessing any of the books thereof," it is expedient that they 
should be made known to every borrower of a book. And for that 
purpose, a printed copy is to be affixed conspicuously on the case . 
containing any library, or on one of such cases, if there be several ; 
and the librarian is to call the attention to them of every person, on 
the first occasion of his taking out a book. 

The offices of trustee and librarian are incompatible, and cannot 
be held by the same person. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



TEACHERS. 

By § 104, (No. 129,) the trustees of each district are to provide 
a book, in which the teachers are to enter the names of the scholars 
attending school, and the number of days they shall have respect- 
ively attended, and also the number of times the school shall have 
been inspected by the town superintendent. This list is to be ver- 
ified by the oath of the teacher. ^ 

The strict and faithful performance of this duty is highly impor- 
tant, not only to the district but to the teacher. It is the basis up- 
on which the rate-bills are to be made out, and by which the sums 
to be paid by parents are to be ascertained. Error in these lists 
will therefore produce injustice. It has been held by this depart- 
ment, that the teacher is not entitled to call on (he trustees for his 
wages, unless he furnishes them an accurate list of scholars, on which 
they can prepare the rate-bills and issue their warrant. Hence the 



971 



teacher lias a direct Dersonal interest in tlie preservation of an ac- 
curate list, whicli he can verify by liisoath. 

For the purposeof executing this provision, the teacher will write 
the following heading or caption in his book, at the commencement 
of each quarter : 

A list of the scholars who attended the district school of district 
No. in the town of during the quarter or term 

commencing the day of 185 , and the number of 

days they respectively attended the same. 



Time of entrance. | Name of scholar. 



Nov. 1, 1851, 
Dec 1, " 
Dec. 4, « 



John Thompson, 
Pttter Baiker, 
James Thomas, 



No. of days' attendance. 



Seventy-eight, 
Forty -three, 
Forty, 



78 daye. 
43 « 
40 « 



At the time any pupil enters the schools, the teacher should im- 
mediately insert the date and the name of the scholar. At the 
close of the quarter, the whole number of days that each pupil at- 
tended is to be ascertained, from the check roll, and entered in the 
third column, in words at length, and also in figures, as in the above 
form. 

Each teacher, at the commencement of every quarter, must pro- 
vide a day or check roll, in which the name of every scholar is to 
be entered. It should be ruled so as to give six columns, corres- 
ponding to the number of days in the week. The number attend- 
ing should be ascertained each half day, and pencil marks made in 
the column for the day opposite to the name of each one present. 
At the end of the week, the number of days each pupil has attend- 
ed during the week should be summed up and entered on the week- 
ly roll. Each half day's attendance should be noted, and tvvo half 
days should be reckoned as one day. The pencil marks on tlie day 
loll may be obliterated, so that the same roll may be used during 
the quartert The weekly roll should be formed in the same man- 
ner, so as to contain the names of the pupils, and thirteen columns 
ruled, corresponding to the number of weeks in the quarter. In 
each of these colunnis is to be entered the result of the daily check 
roll for each week, in the following form : 

Weekly Roll. 

Attendance of pupils in district school of district No. 



Names 

of 
pnpils. 


1st week. 


2d week. 


3d week. 


4th week. 


5 th week 


J. Tho'n, 


G days. 


4 days. 


5 days. 


G days. 


5i days. 



372 

At the end of the quarter, the teacher will sum up the attendaU' 
t;es of each pupil from this weekly roll, and enter the result in the 
book px'ovided by the trustees as before mentioned, showing the 
whole number of days each scholar has attended during the quar- 
ter. 

At the end of the list, the following oath or affirmation is to be 
written : 

A. B., being duly sworn, (or affirmed) deposes, that the forego- 
ing is a true and accurate list of the names of the scholars wdio at- 
tended the district school of district No. in the town of 

during the quarter commencing the day of 

185 5 and the number of days they respectively attended. 

This oath or affirmation is to be signed by the teacher, and certi- 
fied by a justice of the peace, commissioi?er of deeds, judge of any 
court of record, town superintendent, or county clerk, to have been 
taken before him. 

The teachers are also required to make an abstract of the lists 
for the use of the trustees, at the end of each quarter, showing the 
results exhibited under the following heads and in the following 
form : 

Abstract of the attendance of scholars, at the district school of 
district No. in the town of during the quarter 

commencing the day of 185 

Of scholars who attended less than two months, there were 
Of scholars who attended two months and less than four, 
" " four months and less than six, 

" " six months and less than eight, 

" " eight months and less than ten, 

" " ten months and less than twelve, 

" " twelve months. 

This abstract is to be signed by the teacher and delivered to the 
trustees. 

In another part of the book provided by the trustees^ and towarda 
the end of it, the teacher will enter the days on which the school 
has been inspected, in the form of a memorandum, as follows : 

Account of Inspections of the School in District No, 

November 1, 1841. The school was inspected by William Jones, 
town Superintendent. 

December 1, 184:1. The school was inspected. 

To this also an oath or affirmation of the correctness must be 
added, in the following form : 

A. B., being duly sworn, (or affirmed) deposes, that the foregoing 

is a true account ot the days on which the school in District No. 

, in the town of j was visited and inspected by the 



273 

town superintendent, during the quarter commencing on the -.n 
day of 185 . 

Teacher, 
Sworn (or affirmed) and subscribed this ) 
day of 185 , before me. ) 

Teachers cannot demand payment of their wages until the col* 
lector has had thirty days to collect them. — Com. School Dec. lOi' 

A teacher may employ necessary means of correction to maintain 
order ; but he should not dismiss a scholar from school without con- 
sultation with the trustees. — Id. 145. 

If a teacher's certificate is annulled, the trustees are at liberty to 
dismiss him, and to rescind their contract with him. But if they 
continue him in school, after notice that his certificate has been an- 
nulled, it will be regarded as such a conti nuance of the contract, 
that they will not be allowed at a subsequent period to dispute it. 
—Id 212 

Contracts by trustees for teachers' wages are binding upon their 
successors in office. — Id 191, 282. 

Teachers, though not, strictly speaking, inhabitants of the dis- 
trict where they are located, should be allowed to participate in all 
the privileges and benefits of the district libraries. — Per Spenceb, 
Supt, 1841. 

The convenience and accommodation of many, if not of most of 
the inhabitants of the several districts, would be essentially pro- 
moted by placing the charge of the library, temporarily with the 
teacher, during the term of his or her employment, and depositing 
it in some convenient and safe place in the school-house. This 
arrangement can only be carried into ef!ect by the concurrence of 
the trustees and librarian, and under their supervision. Generally, 
the teacher, not being an inhabitant of the district, cannot be cho- 
sen librarian. But where the trustees and librarian have sufiicient 
confidence in the teacher and in the safety of the books, when left 
at the school-house, they will tind this arrangement in many re- 
spects conducive to the convenience of the district. 

The authority of the teacher to punish his scholars, extends to 
acts done in the school-room, or play-ground, only ; and he has no 
legal right to punish for improper or disorderly conduct elsewhere. 
— Per Spencicu, Snp'f. 

Teachers may open and close their schools with prayer, and the 
reading of the Scriptures, accompanied with suitable remarks ; ta- 
king care to avoid all discussion of controverted points, or sectarian 
dogmas. 

Where a teacher is dismissed by tlie trustees for good cause, he 
can collect his wages only up to the period of his dismissal. 

The teacher of a school has necessarily the government of it ; 
and he may prescribe the rules and principles on which such gov- 
ernment will be conducted. The trustees should not interfere with 
the discipline of the school except on complaint of misconduct on 
18 



274 

the part of the teacher ; and they should then invariably sustain 
such teacher, unless his conduct has been grossly wrong. — Per 
Spencer, &upt 

Where a teacher agrees to collect his own wages he will be con- 
cluded by such an agreement, and will not afterwards be permitted 
to call on the trustees to enforce the collection of any part of such 
bill by rate-bill. — Id. 

Where a teacher contracts with the trustees of a district to teach 
their school for a given sum per scholar, he is entitled to charge the 
trustees that sum tor each scholar attending the school during the 
quarter, without reference to the number of days' attendance ; pro- 
vided such scholar has not been detained from school during the 
greater portion of the term, by illness or unavoidable casualty. — 
The trustees however, must graduate i\ie\Y .rate-bill against the in- 
habitants sending to school, by the number of days attendance, to 
be ascertained from the verified list of the teacher. — Per Youngs- 
Sup't. 

Schools may be kept on Sunday for the benefit of those per- 
sons who observe Saturday as holy time , and the teacher must 
be paid for that day by those who send to school. — Com. School 
Dec. 138. 

The holydays on which a teacher may dismiss his school are such 
as it is customary to observe, either throughout the country or in 
particular localities ; among which may be enumerated the Fourth 
of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New-Year's, &c. — Id. 139. 

The teacher may also, unless restrained by special contract to 
the contrary, dismiss his school on the afternoon of each Saturday, 
or the whole of each alternate Saturday, according to the particulai' 
custom of the district in that respect, or his own convenience and 
that of the inhabitants. — Id. 

The practice of inflicting corporal 'punishment upon scholars, in 
any case lohatever, has no sanction but usage. The teacher is re-- 
sponsible for maintaining good order, and he must be the judge of 
the degree and nature of the punishment required where his' au- 
thority is set at defiance. At the same time he is liable to the par- 
ty injured for any abuse of a prerogative which is wholly derived 
from custom — Per John A. Dix, Sup't. Common School Decisions, 
■.102. 



CHAPTER IX. 



APPEALS TO THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT. 

The cases in which the courts will not entertain jurisdiction of 
complaints of erroneous proceedings under the school laws, and in 
which only a certiorari will lie, may be inferred from the decision 



275 

of the Supreme court in the case of Easton and others, vs Calender, 
11 "Wend. 90, "The plaintiff below was not without his remedy. 
1 R. S. 487, §110, 111 and the amendment of the law, 2(lth April 
1830, provides *' that any person conceiving himself aggrieved in con- 
sequence of any decision made by the Trustees of any district in 
paying any teacher ; or concerning any other matter under the pre- 
sent title," (which inclufles the wliole of the school act,) "may ap- 
peal to the Superintendent of Common Schools, whose decision 
shall be final." This provision was intended for what it practically 
is, a cheap and expeditious mode of settling most, if not all, of the 
difnculties and disputes arising in the course of the execution of the 
law, A common law certiorari would no doubt lie from this court, 
to the trustees to bring up and correct any erroneous proceeiling 
not concluded by an adjudication of the Superintendent, or in a 
case where his powers were inadequate to give the relief to which 
the party was entitled." 

The passage of several acts of the Legislature renders necessary 
a revision of the regulations concerning appeals : And the follow- 
ing are therefore su!)sfituti;d for those heretofore estabiished : 

CASES IX WHICH APPEALS MAY BE MADE. 

I. Where any decision has been made by any School District 
meeting. 

This includes the whole class of cases, in which district meetings 
have the power to decide on any proposition or motion that may 
legally be made to them, under any section of the School Act, 

II. Where any decision has been made by the Town Superin- 
tendent of Common Schools, or by him and the Supervisor and 
Town Clerk, in forming or altering, or in refusing to forrh or alter 
any School I 'istrict, or in refusing to pay any school moneys to any 
district, and under the general provision, '• concerning any oiher 
matter under the present title," appeals will also lie from the pro- 
ceedings of such Town Superintendent in any erroneous distribu- 
tion of public money, m paying it to any district not entitled, or moie 
than it is authorized to receive ; and in fact any offieial decision, 
act or proceeding, and from a refusal to discharge any duty impost d 
by lav/, or the regulations of the Superintendent, or incident to the 
duties of his office. 

III. Where any decision has been made by trustees of school 
districts in paying any teacher, or refusing to pay him, or in refu- 
sing to admit any scholar gratuitously into the school : And under 
the same general provision referred to, ia'improperly admitting any 
scholar gratuitously, in making out any tax list, or rate-bill, or in 
any act or proceeding whatever, which they undertake to i)erfbrm 
officially ; and also for the refusal to discharge any duty" enjoined 
by law, or any regulation of the Superintendent, or incident to the 
duties of their office. 



276 

IV. Where Town Supenntendents have improperly granted or 
annulled a certificate or qualification to a teacher ; or have refused 
to grant or annul such certificate ; and where they have underta- 
ken to perform any official act, or refused to discharge any duty im- 
posed by law or under its authority, in the iflspection of teachers 
and visitation of schools. 

V. Where Clerks of Districts, Clerks of Towns, or other min- 
isterial officers, refuse to perform any duty enjoined by the Com- 
mon School Act. 

VI. Where any other matter under the said act, shall be pre- 
sented, either inconsequence of disputes between districts respect- 
ing their boundaries, or any other subject : or in consequence of 
disputes between any officers charged with the execution of any 
duties under the laws concerning Common Schools, or disputes be- 
tween them any other person relating to such duties or any of 
them. 

Under the l^Qth section '■'respecting School Disti'ict Libraries,'' 

{No. 159.) 

VII. Appeals may be made from any act or decision of trustees 
or school districts concerning the Libraries or the books therein, or 
the use of such books. 

,VIIL Any act or decision of the Librarian in respect to the 
Library. 

IX. Any act or decision of any district meeting in relation to 
their school library. 

X. Appeals also lies from the acts of Town Superintendents of 
Gommort Schools in withholding or paying over library money to 
any district. 

BY V-^HOM APPEALS x\RE TO BE MADE. 

XII. The person aggrieved by the act complained of, only, can 
appeal. Generally every inhabitant of a district is aggrieved by 
the wrongful act or omission of a trustee or town superintendent, by 
which money or property is disposed of, or not secured for the bene- 
fit of the district. But no one is aggrieved by another being inclu- 
ded in a tax list or rate-bill, although other inhabitants are by the 
omission of one who should be taxed ; and appeals may be made by 
trustees, in behalf of their districts whenever they are aggrieved. 

FORM AND MANiS'ER OF PROCEEDING. 

XIII. An appeal mus.t be in writing and signed by the appel- 
lant. When made by the trustees of a district, it must be signed by 
all the trustees, or a reason must be given for the omission of any, 
verified by the oath of the appellant, or of some person acquainted 
with such reason. 

XIV. A copy of the appeal, duly verified, and of all the state- 
ments, maps and papers intended to be presented in support of it, 



277 

must be served on the officers wliose act or decision is complained 
of, or some of them ; or if it be from the decision or proceeding of 
a district meeting, upon the district ch rk or one of the trustees, 
whose duty it is to cause information of sucli appeal to be given to 
the inhaWtants who voted for the decision or proceeding appealed 
from. 

XV. Such service must be made within thirty days after the 
making of the decision, or the performance of the act complained of, 
or within that time, after the knowledge of tho cause of complaint 
came to the appellant, or some satisfactory excuse must be render- 
ed for delay. 

XVI. The party on whom the appeal was served, must within 
ten days from the time of such service, answer the same, either by 
concurring in a statement of facts with tlie appellant, or by a sepa- 
rate answer. Such statement and answer must be signed by all 
the trustees, or other officers, whose act, omission or decision is ap- 
pealed from, or a good reason on oath must be given, for the omis- 
sion of the signature of any of them, verified hy oath, and a copy 
of such answer must be served on the appellants, or some one of 
them. 

XVII. So far as the parties concur in a statement no oath will 
be required to it. But all facts, maps or papers not agreed upon 
by them and evidenced by their signature on both sides, must be 
verified by oath. 

XVIII. All oaths required by these regulations must be taken 
before a judge of a court of record, a commissioner of deeds, a 
justice of the peace, or a town superintendent. 

XIX. A copy of the answer and of all the statements, maps and 
papers intended to be presented in support of it, must be serv'ed 
upon the appellants, or some one of them, within ten days after 
service of a copy of the appeal, unless further time be given by the 
state superintendent, on application, in special cases ; but no re- 
plication or rejoinder shall be allowed, except by permission of the 
state superintendent, and in reference exclusively to matters arising 
upon the answer, and which may be deemed by such state super- 
intendent pertinent to the issue : in which case such replication and 
rejoinder shall be duly verified by oath, and copies thereof served 
on the opposite party. 

XX. Proof or admission of the service of copies of the appeal, 
answer and all other papers intended to be used on the hearing of 
such appeal, must in all cases, accompany the same, 

XXI. When any proceeding of a district meeting is appealed 
from, and when the inhabitants of a district generally are interested 
in the matter of the appeal, and in all cases where an inhabitant 
might be an appellant, had the decision or proceeding been the op- 
posite of that which was made or had ; any one of more of such in- 
habitants may answer the appeal, with or without the trustees. 

XXII. Where the appeal has relation to the alteration or form- 
ation of a school district, it must be accompanied by a map, exhib- 



278 

iting the site of the school hou.«e, the roads, the old and new lines 
of districts, the difFe^ent lots, the particular location and distance 
from the school-houses, of the persons aggrieved ; and their rel- 
ative distance, if there are two or more school-houses in question. 
Also, a list of all the taxable inhabitants in the district or territory 
to be affected by the question ; the valuation of the property taken 
from the last assessment roll, and the number of children between 
five and sixteen belonging to each person, distinguishing the dis- 
tricts to which they respectively belong. 

XXIII. When the copy of the appeal is served, all proceedings 
upon or in continuation of the act complained ot, or consequent in 
any way upon such act, must be suspended until the case is decid- 
ed. So where any decision concerning the distribution of public 
money to one or more districts is appealed from, the town superin- 
tendent must retain the money which is in dispute until the appeal 
is decided. And where trustees have money in their hands claim- 
ed to belong to any person, or any other district, after the copy of 
an appeal is served on them in relation to such claim, they must 
retain such moneys to abide the lesult, and must not expend them 
so as to defeat the object of the appeal. 

XXIV. Whenever a decision is made by the superintendent, and 
communicated to the town superintendent of common schools, re- 
specting the formation, division or alteration of districts, he must 
cause the decision to be recorded in the office of the town clerk. 
All other decisions communicated to him, or to the trustees of dis- 
tricts, are to be kept among the official papers of the clerk of the 
town or district and handed over to his successors ; and the district 
clerks are required to record all such as come to their hands in the 
district book kept by them. 

Note. — By a clerical error in the engrossment of the 16th sec- 
tion of Chap. 382 of the laws of 1849, section 132 of Chap. 480, 
laws of 1847, conferring appellate jurisdiction on the State Super- 
intendent of Common Schools, was inadvertently repealed. The 
Superintendent has, however, continued to entertain appeals in ac- 
cordance vv^ith the regulations above inserted, where such appeals 
have been submitted by the parties respectively, to his decision. 
A bill correcting the error in the act of 1849, passed the Assem- 
bly at its last session, and was supposed to have passed the Senate, 
at the time of the passing of these sheets through the press, in 
consequence of which, the original section (132) relating to appeals 
was restored. As there can be little doubt that this section will be 
re-instated at the ensuing session of the Legislature, it has been 
deemed expedient to retain that portion of the instructions relating 
to appeals, with this explanatory note. 



PART IV. 



LOCAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS, 



RESPEOriNG 



COMMON SCHOOLS. 



ALBANY. 

- [Laius of 1844, Ghap. 128.] 

§ 1. The mayor and recorder of the city of Albany, and the Regents of 
the University residing in said city, shall, without delay, appmnt nine per- 
sons, residents of the city of Albany, to be denominated a Board of Com- 
missioners of the District Schools of the city of Albany, who shall be divi- 
ded h)y lot into three classes, to be numbered one. two and three : the term 
of office of the first class shall be one year, from the first day of June next; 
of the second, two ; and of the third, three years from that day : and three 
commissioners shall thereafter annually be appointed by the said mayor and 
recorder of the city of Albany, and the regents of the university residing 
in said city, in place of those whose terms of office shall expire, who shall 
hold their office for three years, and until their successors be duly ap- 
pointed. In case of a vacancy in the office of either of the commissioners, 
during the period fur which he or they shall have been respectively appoint- 
ed, the said mayor and recurder of the city of Albany and the regents of 
the university residing in the said city, shall fill such vacancy, and the person 
or persons so appointed to fill such vacancy, shall hold the office tinly for the 
unexpired term so becoming vacant. 

§ 2. Any member of said board of commissioners may be removed, for 
cause, from office, by a vote of two-thirds of the persons authorized by the 
preceding section to appoint such commissioners ; and any vacancy so made 
shall be filled in the manner already provided. 

§ 3. The board of commissioners shall have power to appoint one of 
their number president of said board, who shall have the powers usually in- 
<5ident to such office ; and said board shall have power, and it shall be their 
duty, to appoint a secretary to said board, who shall perform such duties as 
the said board from time- to time may direct, and who shall receive theref jr 
such compensation, not exceeding one hundred and fifty dollars annually, as 
the said board shall provide, out of any moneys remaining unexpended in 
the hands of said board. 



280 

§ 4. The board of commissioners shall have power, and it shall be their 
duty, to contract with and employ the teachers of the district schools of 
said city ; to remove any teacher upon manifest neglect of duty, or upon 
violation of his or her contract ; to appoint a collector for the said district 
schools ; to make out rate bills and exempt indigent children therefrom ; to 
select and introduce uniform class books into said schools ; to supply indi- 
gent pupils Avith said class books, by using and appropriating for that pur- 
pose a portion of tiie library money, not exceeding three hundred dollars in 
any one year ; to appropriate and use, for the purpose of keeping in repair 
the several libraries t)f said district schools, for increasing the same, and for 
purchasing maps and apparatus for said schools, a farther portion of said li- 
brary money, not exceeding three hundred dollars annually ; to provide for 
the instruction of the pupils of said district schools in vocal music, by ap- 
propriating a farther portion of said library money, not exceeding four hun- 
dred dollars annually ; to secure, with whatever may remain unexpended of 
said library money, the education of such number of indigent pupils from 
said district schools, in either of the academies or in any normal school of 
said city, by paying for their tuition therein, as the common council of said 
city may sanction ; but all children so e lucated shall have been members of 
said district schools for at least two years ; and neither of such academies 
shall receive from the distribution of the literature fund, any sum for or on 
account of such pupils ; and such academies shall, in their annual report to 
the regents of the university, state the number of such pupils taught there- 
in ; and no portion of said unexpended nioney shall be so appropriated un- 
til the ordinary expenses of said district schools for libraries and tuition are 
fii'st satisfied ; to visit the district schools as often as once a quarter ; to 
hold a meeting of the board once a month, and at the quarterly meetings of 
said board to requu-e the presence and reports of the several principal 
teachers of said schools ; to make a semi-annual report of all the acts of 
said board to the common council, and to make and publish an annual report 
in two of the daily papers of said city ; and generally to possess the pow- 
ers, discharge the duties and be subject to all of the obligations of the sev- 
eral trustees and other school ofiicers of the said city of Albany, as granted . 
and imposed by the several acts now in force in relation to said district 
schools of said city. 

§ 5. The board of commissioners shall have power, and it shall be their 
duty, to make such by-laws and regulations as may be necessary for the pros- 
perity, good order and sound discipline of said district schools ; for the se- 
curity and preservation of the school-houses and other property' belonging 
to said districts ; and generally to carry into effect the provisions of the sev- 
eral school acts of said city ; and when said by-laws and regulations ai'e 
sanctioned by the persons authorized by this act to appoint said commission- 
ers, they shall take effect, and not before. 

§ 6. All school moneys whatsoever, beh^nging to said district schools, 
whether received from the State, raised by tax, or collected on school i-ates, 
shall be deposited with the Chamberlain of said city, until drawn, from 
time to time, by duly certified orders of said Board of Commissioners ; and 
said orders ehall set forth the object of each payment, and be signed by the 
oflBcers of said boai-d. Provided always, that nothing in this act shall be so 
construed as to authorize said board to incur any obligation that shall in- 
crease the taxes of said city. 

[Lmvs of 1845. Chap. 245.] 

§ 1. The Board of Commissioners of the Albany district schools are hereby 
authorized to apply any library money, not expended under the fourth sec- 
tion of the act entitled, " An Act amendatory to the several acts relating to 
district schools in the city of Albany," passed April 8, 1844, either to the 
payment of teachers' wages, or to the contingent expenses of the district 
schools of said city. 



M 

[Zairso/"1837. Cfiap. 2\-X] 

§ 9. The school buildiiiirs ami U)t.s on wliith tlio same arc croctoil, now 
bolnniTiiin- U), 111- tliat may lioroaftor belong to auy solmol ilistrict iu said city 
of Albany, sliall bo oxenipt iVoui all taxes or ai^sessnieuts. 
[ Lawn of 1837. Chap. 35S. ] 

v^ '2. Tlie OonuTii.isioners of common .schools shall apportion annnally. oa 
the rclnrns of qnylified teachers, for the instnietion of the chilib-en in tho 
Albany Orphan Asylum for destitnte children their prop.^rtion of (lie |nib- 
lie money for the support of schools; wliich money, when so apportioned 
and jiaid to tho trust oes of tho district, sliall bo paid to such teachers for 
toachera' wages. 

[Laws of 18157. C/iai>. ;!C.O.] 

§ 9. The Supervisors of tlio county of Albany, at their annual meeting 
iu each year, shall cause a sum of money, equal to twice the amount of the 
money apportioned to tho city from the common scho >! fund, togctlicr with 
collector's foes, to be raised, levied and collected in the same manner that 
otiicr taxes arc raised, levied ami collected ; and when so raised, to be paid 
to the Chamberlain, for the sujiport of connn^ui schools in the city of Alba- 
ny, to be apportioned and distributed, as now provided for by law. 

^ 2. All moneys ap])ortioned by the comnussioners of common schools 
to tho trustees of a district wl\ich shall have remained in the hands of the 
Chandierlain for one year after such apportionment, by reason of the trus- 
tees neglecting or refusing to receive the same, shall be added to the moneys 
next tlicrcalYcr to be apportioiied by the commissioners, and shall bo appor- 
tioned and paiil therewith and in the same manner. 

^ o. No school district now formed, or hereafter to be formed, east of 
Perry street, .shall have power to hold a district school meeting, to vt)te a 
tux, or to do any act as a district meeting ; nor .'hall have jiower to soil or 
dispose of the district property, without a legislative enactment. 

AUBURN. 

[Laws of ISfiO. Chap.S-i9.] 

§ 1. Title eight of an act to incorporate the city of Auburn, j)asscd March 
21. 1848, is hereby repealed. 

§ 2. The ofUces of the several trustees, clerks, collectors and librarians of 
school districts, in the city of Auburn, shall cease on the thiril Tuesday in 
April, one thousand, eight hundred and fifty, in like manner as if tlu' same 
had e.xpired by lapse of time. The iidiabitants of said city, qualitied to 
vote at school district meetings, shall assemble in their respective scliool di.s- 
tncts on the day last mcntionod, at the .school house in s\icli district, and 
choose one trustee and a cl.'rk of the district, who shall hold their respect- 
ive ofHces until the next annual district meeting in the district, for wliich 
they shall be respectively chosen, and untH their successors sliall have becQ 
severally chosen. Such anntud district meeting shall hereafter be holden in 
the several districts in said city, on the second Monday in March in each 
year ; and from and after tho passage of this act, only one trustee shall 
be cliosen annually in any school district in said city. 

i$ ;>. Tile trustee elected in any district in said city, shall have the power 
and it shall be his duty, to call special meetings of the inhabitants of such 
distri(;ts liable to pay tuxes, wlu-never ho shall deem it necessary or jiroper 
to give notice of sp.'cial, annual and adjourned meetings, in the nianiua- prc- 
sa-ibcd iu this act, if there be no cderk of the district, or he lie absent or in- 
capable of acting, or sliall refuse or neglect to give sucli notice ; to visit the 
schools kept in tlie district as often as once ir each quarter, and to re]iortthe 
CoiulitioH of the same, witli such suggestions for the improvement thereof as 
he may »leem jn-oper, to the board of education hereinafter named, and to 

tierform such other duties as may be from time to time imposed upon him 
>y the said board of education. 



282 

§ 4. It shall be sufficient notice of an annual, special, adjourned or first 
district meeting, to affix such notice on the outer door of tlie district school 
house, if there be any, and to post a copy of the same in three other public 
places in such district — tlie affixing and posting' of such notice to he done at 
least ten days before such meeting, and no other notice of any such meeting 
need be given. 

§ 5. It siiall be the duty of the clerk of each school district to record 
the proceedings of his district in a book to be provided for that purpose by 
the said board of education ; to give notice in the manner provided in the 
last preceding section, of the time and place of every annual district meet- 
ing or special district meetings, when ordered by the trustees of the district, 
and of any adjourned district meeting, when the same shall be adjonrned for 
a longer period than one month ; to keep and preserve all records, books and 
papers belonging to his office, and to deliver the same to his successor in of- 
fice. 

§ 6. Any vacancy in the office of district clerk may be supplied by the 
trustee of tiie district in which such vacancy shall happen, but the person 
appointed to supply such vacancy shall hold tlie office only for the unexpired 
term. 

§ 7. The term of office of the superintendent of common schools in said 
city shall cease on the third Tuesday of April, one thousand eight hundred 
and fifty, in the same manner as il' the same had expired by lapse of time. 
The common council of said city, at the last regular meeting thereof, next 
preceding the third Tuesday of April next, shall appoint by ballot a super- 
intendent of common schools . who shall hold his office until the second Mon- 
day of March, one thousand, eight hundred and fifty-two. The common 
council of said city, at the annual meeiing thereof, held on the second Mon- 
day of March, 1852, and as often thereafter as the term of office of such su- 
perintendent of common schools shall expire, shall appoint a superintendent 
of common schools for said city, who shall hold his office for two years, and 
until a successor shall be appointed. The superintendent of common schools 
so appointed, shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties and 
responsibilities of superintendents of common schools in towns, so far as the 
same are applicable, except as otherwise provided in tliis act ; in case of a 
vacancy in such office, the common council of said city shall supply the same 
by appointment, for the unexpired term. 

§ 8. The common council of said city shall, at the last regular meeting 
thereof, next preceding the third Tuesday of April, one thou^and eight hun- 
dred and fiftv, appoint one school commissioner in each of the wards of said 
city, who shall be residents of the wards for which they are respectively ap- 
pointed ; immediately upon the appointment of such school commissioners, 
the city clerk shall, in the presence of the common council, divide them by- 
lot into four classes, to be numbered one, two, three, four. The term of of- 
fice of the first class shall expire on the first Monday succeeding the first 
Tuesday in April, 1851; the second cla-s in one year thereafter; the thu-d 
in two years, and the fourth in three years, and one commissioner only shall 
thereafter be annually appointed, who shall be appointed at the annual meet- 
ing of the common council, held on Monday next succeeding the annual elec-- 
tion, and who shall be a resident of the same ward with the school commis- 
sioner whose term of office shall then expire, who shall hold his office for 
four years, and until a successor shall be duly appointed In case of a va- 
cancy 'in the office of either of the commissioners, the common council shall 
appoint a successor, who shall be a resident of the ward in which such vacan- 
cy shslll occur, for the unexpired term. 

§ 9. The trustees of the several school districts so elected, and the school 
commissioners so appointed, together with -the mayor and superintendent -of 
schools of said city, shall constitute and are hereby denominated the board 
of education for the city of Auburn. They shall meet on the first Tiiesday 
of each and every month, and as much oftener as they shall from time to 
tune appoint. A majority of the said board shall constitute a quorum for 



283 

the transaction of business. The mayor sliall be the president of such board 
and sliall have pfiwer to call special meetings thereof, in the manner pro- 
vided by law for calling special nioetinics of tlie common c<iuncil. In the 
absence of the mayor, the said board shall appoint some <)ther member to 
preside at such meetings, and perform the dulies of the president, Ihe su- 
periiiiendent of common schools shall be the clerk of such board ; he shall 
attend the meetings and keep a record of the proceedings of the said hoard ; 
he shall possc-s all the powers and lie I'equlred to pcrf irm all the duties, in 
reference to the schools of said city, of town superintendents of common 
schools, except as otheiwise in this act provided, and shall perform such 
other duties as the said board shall from time to time presciibe. 

§ 10. The board of education shall fix the compensation of the superin- 
tendent of common schools, for his services as clerk of such board, not ex- 
ceeding one hundred dollars per year, and for such other services as he may 
perform otherwise than as such clerk, he shall be entitled to the same com- 
pensation as provided by law for town superintendents of schools for similar 
services, and his account therefor shall be audited by such board and paid by 
the city treasurer, out of the moneys in this act specified as the common 
school funtl. and not otherwise. 

g II. The said board of education shall possess all the powers conferred 
by law upon town superintendents of common schools, as to the formation 
and alteration of school districts within said city, except that in arranging 
such districts, no territory without the limits of said city .shall be included, 
nor shall any territory within said city belong to or be taxed in any school 
district of any adjoining town ; and sliall possess all the powers and be sub- 
ject to all the duties and responsibilities of trustees of common schools in 
towns, as to the several comnx-n or district schools within said city, so far as 
the same are applicable, except as otherwise in this act provided, and sliall 
have the custody of all the property, real and personal, belonging to or own- 
ed by the several school districts, and shall pay the compensation of the 
teachers of the said schools, and all other necessary and contingent expenses 
incurred in the support thereof; and shall appoint librarians to take cha/ge 
of the several district libraries, who .shall be subject to the control and hold 
their t)ffices during the pleasure of such board ; and shall have the power 
and it sh;dl be their duty to pass such by daws and ordinances for the regula- 
tion, government, control and management of the comnion schools in said city, 
and of the teachers and pupils of such schools, and of the officei's of the sev- 
eral school districts in said city, and for the safe-keeping, disposition and man- 
agement of the libraries, maps and apparatus appertaining to such schools, 
and to legulate the text books used in such schools, as they shall deem expe- 
dient ; and said boaiii may piescribe a penalty for a violation f)f any ordi- 
nance <ir by-law authorized by this act, not exceeding ten df)llars ; and any 
such penalty may be sued for and recovered with costs, in the name of the 
mayor and common council of the city of Auburn ; and the said board may 
subject the parent or guardian of any minor, and the master or mistress of 
any apprentice or servant, to any such penalty for a violation of any such or- 
dinance or by-law, by any such minor, apprentice or servant. 

§ 12. All penalties collected by virtue of this act shall be paid to the 
city treasurer, and by him deposited to the credit of the common school 
fund. 

§ 13. The clerk of the board of education shall keep a record of all by- 
laws and ordinances which shall be passed by said board, and the same shall 
be publi-hed and take effect, and be proved and read in evidence, in like man- 
ner as ordinances passed by the common council of the city of Auburn ; a rec- 
oid or entry made -by the said clerk at the time of the first publication of 
any ordinances, or a copy thereof duly certified by him, or the affidavit of the 
printer or publisher, shall be presumptive evidence of the publication thereof, 
iu all courts and places. 

§14. Whenever the inhabitants of any school district .shall, by vote, de- 
termine to build a school-house, it shall be the duty of the said board of edu- 



284 

cation to fix the site of the said school house, and determine the snm neces- 
sary to be raised for tlie purchase of such site and the buikling of said school 
house, and i-eport the same to the common council, which sum shall in no 
case exceed the sum of three thousand dollars. 

§ 15. It shall be the duty of the common council to levy and raise upon 
the said district the sum so reported, pursuant to the last section, in the same 
manner as the general taxes of the city are levied or raised, except that the 
same shall be collected on a separate warrant, and when the same shall be 
collected it shall be paid to the city treasurer, and deposited to the credit of 
the board of education ; and no part thereof shall be appropriated by said 
board otherwise than for the purchase and improvement of such site and the 
erection of such school-house, with the appurtenances. 

§ 16. The said board of education shall annually, on or before the first 
day of June, fix and determine, and certify and report to the common council, 
the amount of money which, when added to the money annually apportioned 
to the city of Auburn, or to the several school districts comprised therein, 
out of the funds belonging to the state, shall be necessary to defray the ex- 
penses of all the common or district schools in said city for the ensuing year, 
for fuel, furniture, school apparatus, repairs and insurance of school-house, 
teachers' wages and contingent expenses, and also to defray the expenses of a 
school for colored children, as hereinafter provided ; and to pay the compen- 
sation of the clerk of the board of education, and the contingent expenses of 
such board. The amount .so certified shalh in no case exceed five times the 
amount which shall have been apportioned out of the funds belonging to the 
state as aforesaid, for the year next preceding. 

§ 1 7. The common council of the said city shall annually levy and raise 
the amount of money so certified and reported by the board of education, 
and the said amount so to be raised shall be levied and collected at the same 
time and in the same manner as the other general taxes of the said city are 
levied and raised, and in addition thereto ; but the warrant issued to the col- 
lector for the collection of such taxes shall specify what amount of such 
taxes shall be paid to the treasurer for general city purposes, and what part 
as a fund for the support of schools. 

§ IS. All moneys levied and raised for the support of common schools, 
together with the public money received from the state, shall be paid to the 
treasurer of the city of Auburn, and shall by him be kept separate and dis- 
tinqt from the other moneys of said city, and shall be known and distinguish- 
ed as the common school fund, and shall be paid out by the treasurer, only 
upon an order drawn upon him. and signed by the president and countersign- 
ed by the clerk of said board of education ; and no such order shall be 
drawn except by virtue of a resolution of the board. Such order shall spec- 
ify for what purpose the amount specified therein is to be paid, and the clerk 
of such board shall keep an accurate account, under the appropriate heads 
of expenditure, of all orders drawn on the treasury, in a check book, to be 
kept by him for that purpose. 

§ 1 9. The board of supervisors of Cayuga county ^hall not have power 
to levy any tax upon the city of Auburn, for the support or on accoimt of 
common schools. 

§ 20. The said board of education shall exclusively audit a,ll accounts 
and claims against any school district, or which have accrued on account of 
any district school in said city, and the payment of the same or of such parts 
thereof as shall be allowed by the said board, shall be made directly to such 
claimants by the city treasurer, out of the moneys belonging to the common 
school fund, upon the order of said board, as hereinbefore provided ; but the 
aggregate of the expenditures and contracts of the said board during any 
year shall not exceed the amount of moneys which shall be subject to their 
oi'der during the then current year. 

§ 21. Whenever, from the annual estimate presented to the common coun- 
cil by said board of education, it shall appear that the expenses of any school 
district for the ensuing year, exclusive of teachers' wages, will exceed the 



28S 

sum of fifty dollar?!, the common council may, in tlielr discretion, order the 
amount of sucli excess to be levied and assessed upon and collected from 
snch district, in the manner hereinbefore provided for raising moneys to 
build a school house ; and such moneys, when so collected, shall be paid to 
the city treasurer, and be by him placed to the credit ^)f the said board of 
education, and shall by said board be expended solely for the benefit of 
such district. 

§ 22. The said board of education shall have power to establish and 
cause to be kept in said city, a school for the instruction of colored children, 
as they shall deem expedient, and the said board shall have aud exercise all 
the powers in relation to such school, of trustees of school districts in towns, 
so far as applicable. 

j5 23. Whenever the said board of education shall determine to establish 
a school for the instruction of colored children, they shall make an estimate 
of 'the expense of erecting a suitable school-house therefor, and deter- 
mine the site thereof, and report such proceedings to the common coun- 
cil.^ 

§ 24. The common council shall have power to raise by general tax, in 
the manner hereinbefore provided, an I on a separate warrant, or in addition 
to tlie general city tax, such sum as shall be necessary to purchase such site 
and build sucli sehool-housc, not exceeding three thousand dollars ; or, the 
said common council may refuse to raise such tax. In case the eonuiu'n 
council sliall refuse to raise such tax, the said board of education shall have 
power to provide and lease a suitable room or building, for the acc^nunoda- 
tion of such school, but the annual expenditure for this purpose shall not ex- 
ceed the sum of one hundred dollars — the same to be paid from the commcn 
school fund. 

5 25. All teachers of common schools in said city shall be employed by 
the city superintendent of common schools, and the trustees of the district 
for which such teacher or teachers shall be employed ; but no appointment 
or employment of any such teacher shall be valid beyond the first regular 
meeting of the b-'urd of education threreafter, unless such appoiutment sliall 
be, approved by such board ; and all contracts mnde Avith teachers by said 
superintendent and any trustee, shall be subject to* the provisions of this 
act ; ami such contract shall cease to be binding on the rejection cf such 
teacher by the b iard of education. 

§ 26. The said board of education may remove any teacher for cause, to 
be specified in the minutes of the proceedings of the said hoard ; and in 
case of any such removal, any contract witli any such teacJicr shall cease, 
and another teacher shall be employed in the manner jirovided in the last 
preceding section. 

§ 27. To the first annual estimate of school expenses presented by the 
board of education to the common council, the said board shall add the pres- 
ent indebtedness of every school district within said city, for any of the 
causes specified in section (1()) sixteen of this act, or which may necessarily 
accrue therefor, previous to the time of presentation of such first estimate, 
aud such additional amount shall be raised in like manner as the ether mon- 
eys stated in said estimate, and shall be paid into and compose a part of the 
coinmon school fund ; and the said board shall assume and pay such indebt- 
edness out of the monies so received. 

g 28. The said board. of education shall annually publish in some news- 
paper in said city, a statement of the number of common schools in said 
city, and the number of pupils instructed therein, the total amount of mon- 
eys rei.'eived for school purposes, with the sources thereof, and the expendi- 
tures on account of each school, specifying as near as may be the items of 
such expenditures. 

§ 29. An appeal may be taken to the state ^superintendent of common 
schools from any proceeding of the said board of education, in the formation 
or alteration of auy school district, in the same manner and for the same 



286 

causes as appeals may be taken from the proceedings of to'wn superintend- 
ents of common schools. 

§ 30. All titles taken to real estate to be used for school purposes, -with 
the exception of a site for a school house for colored children, shall be taken 
in the name of the trustees of the district in which such real estate shall be 
situated, in his official name ; and any real estate now or hereafter owned 
by any school district, may be sold by the trustees of such district, upon a 
vote of the inhabitants of said district, and with the approval of the said 
board of education ; and the avails of such real estate shall be paid to the 
city treasurer, and be by him placed to the credit of the board of educa- 
tion, and by said board ajjpropriated exclusively to the benefit of such dis- 
trict. 

§ 31. The treasurer and collector of the city of Auburn shall respective- 
ly, with their sureties be liable on their official bonds for any default, de- 
linquency, neglect or misconduct in the duties with which they may be re- 
spectively charged, under and by virtue of this act, in the same manner and 
with the like effect as for any other official default, delinquency, neglect or 
misconduct. 

§ 82. All acts and j^arts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby re- 
pealed. 

§ 33. This act shall take effect immediately. 

BROOKLYN. 

[Laius of 1850. Chap. Un.] 

§ 1. The common council of the city of Brooklyn shall, on the first Mon- 
day of February after this act becomes a law, appoint thirty-three persons, 
residents of said city, one of whom at least shall reside in each school dis- 
trict thereof, who together shall constitute a board of education. It shall 
then divide the said board into tlu-ee equal classes, each class containing 
eleven members, and shall determine by lot their respective terms of office, 
so that the ffi'st class shall serve one year, the second two years, and the 
third three years. In each year thereafter, the said common council shall 
appoint eleven members of said board, care being had to preserve the rep- 
resentation of at least one member from, each school district, whose term of 
office shall continue three years : and in case a vacancy shall at any time 
occur in said board, the said council shall supply the same. The persons so 
appointed shall be re-eligible, and shall hold office until their successors are 
appointed and shall have qualified. 

^ 2. The board of education- shall have the entire charge and direction 
of all the public schools of said city, and of the school moneys raised for 
the support of the same, and shall possess the powers and be subject to the 
general duties of trustees of common schools in this state, so far as the same 
are not impaired or affected by this act. It shall annually choose a presiding 
officer, make its own by laws, keep a journal of its proceedings, define the 
duties of its officers and committees, and prescribe such rules and regula- 
tions for instruction and discipline in the said public schools as are not in- 
consistent with the laws of the state ; and all the provisions of the act .re- 
lating to resignations and expulsions in the common council shall be appli- 
cable to the board of education. 

§ 3. The whole city shall be a school district for all purposes of taxation 
as well for the purchase of school sites and the building and repairing of 
school houses, as for the annual support of schools ; but shall be divided by 
the board of education into as many districts as there are schools, for the 
purpose of determining the limits within which children may attend such 
schools. 

§ 4. The board of education shall have power to organize and establish 
schools for colored children, and such evening schools as it may, from time 
to time, deem expedient, and shall adopt the necessary rules for the govern- 



28r 

ment of the same. It may make use of the public school houses under its 
charge for such evening schools, and the expenses of said schools sliiiU be 

{)aidout of the general fund, in the same manner as tliose of the other pub- 
ic schools. No person shall be prohibited from attending the evening schools 
on account of age. 

§ 5. The board of education shall appoint a city superintendent of com- 
mon schools, who shall, ex-officio, be the secretary of the board. In addi- 
tion to such otiier duties as may be devolved upim him by the board, in the 
visitation and superiutendence of the schools, he shall examine the qualid- 
cations of teachers and grant certilicates, in such manner and form as may 
be prescribed by the state superintendent, which shall not be in force long- 
er than a year, and may at any time be revoked by the board of education. 
He !-hall also make such annual and other reports of the conditimi of the 
schools and of other matters as may be required by law or by the said 
board. He shall be paid a salary out of the general fund, to be fixed by 
the board, and may be removed from office by the vote of a majority of all 
the members of the board of education. 

§ 6. The treasurer of the city shall be, ex-officio, the treasurer of the 
board of education, and shall receive to the credit of said board, from the 
county treasurer, the amount of school money to which the city is entitled 
from the state appropriation, together with such amount as is raised by the 
board of supervisors to entitle the city to its distributive share of tlic school 
moneys of the state, and from the city collector the money raised by tax for 
the support of schools ; and he shall disburse the same only by the order 
and upon the warrant of the board of education, drawn in favor of the per- 
son entitled to payment, signed by the presiding officer of the board, and 
countersigned by its secretary. 

§ 7. The treasurer shall give such bonds for the faithful performance of 
his duty as the common council may require, and shall report monthly to 
the board of educati^m his receipts and expenditures, with the balance re- 
maining on hand to tho credit of the board, and such other infirmation 
in relation thereto as the board of education may, from time to time, re- 
quire. 

§ 8. The board of education shall provide for taking an annual census of 
all the children of the city, on the thirty-first day of December in each year, 
between the ages of live and sixteen years inclusive, wliich enumeration 
■with such statistical and other inf )rmation as may be required by law, shall 
be included in the report of the city suiJcriuteudent, required iu a previous 
section. 

§ 9. The board of education shall present, annually, on or before the first 
Monday in February, to the common council, an estimate of the money re- 
quired to be raised in the ensuing year for the support of the schools, and 
for the purchase of scliool sites, as well as for the building and repairing of 
school-houses ; and the common council shall determine what sum:* siuifl be 
raised for such purposes, respectively, in addition to the amount already re- 
quired by law, iu order to entitle the city to its distributive share of tlie state 
school money. 

§ 10. The amount of money to be raised for the support of schools iu 
any one year, exclusive of the sums required to purchase sites and to build 
and repair school-houses, as well as to entitle the city to its share of the state 
school money, shall not be less than one dollar and twenty-five cents, nor 
more than one dollar and seventy-five cents for each child between the 'a^-es 
of five and sixteen years within the city — as ascertained by the previous 
census, herein required to be taken on the thirty-first day of December in 
each year. 

§11. The several amounts so determined by the common council to be 
raised as aforesaid, shall be levied upon all the taxable property of the city, 
in the same manner and at the same time as the taxes for city purposes, and 
shall be stated and sen^ to the board of county supervisors to be levied and 
collected accordingly. 



288 

& 12. The board of supervisors, in their warrant to the collector, shall di- 
rect him to pay the amount so to be collected to the treasurer of the city, to 
the credit of the board of education, out of the first moneys collected. 

§ 13. It shall be the duty of the first board of city assessors elected after 
this law shall take effect, to estimate the value of the school property of each 
school district as heretofore existing, and certify the same to the board of 
supervisors. The supervisors shall thereupon, proceed to equalize the said val- 
ue by assessing the aggregate amount thereof upon the whole city, and cred- 
itiu';'- each school district on account of its general tax, with the value of its 
separate school propert}', and its special scliool taxes already laid and in pro- 
gress of collection. 

8 14. Tlie board of education shall determine the nimiber and location 
of schools ; but no expenditures for the purchase of ground or the erection of 
school-houses shall hereafter be made, unless the same shall have been ap- 
proved of by the common council. Such approval shall be deemed to have 
been oiven when the tax therefor shall be approved by the common council, 
and levied by 'the supervisors ; or it may be specially given upon the appli- 
cation of the board of education to make such expenditure, in anticipation of 
a tax to be levied in the ensuing year. 

§ 15. The title of all the property now or hereafter to be required for 
school purposes, shtill be vested in the board of education. 

§ 16. The board of education shall determine Avhether any and what por- 
tion of the state appropriation and the county tax, designated as library nion- 
e.', sliall be applied to the purchase of school libraries and apparatus, and the 
disposition thereof; and the residue of said money shall be applied to the 
payment of teaclaers' wages, or for the purchase of school books, and to no 

other purpose. _ , i i •, i- 

g 17. The money raised for the purchase of sohool sites, and the building, 
reriairiuo- and furnisliing of school-houses, shall be known as the " special 
school fund," and all other moneys as the " general school fund;" and it shall 
be the duty of the board of education to keep accurate accounts of its re- 
ceipts anil expenditures, distinguishing between those of a general and those 
of a special character ; and it shall not be lawful to expend any portion of the 
monevs raised for tlie use of one of said funds, for the purposes of the other 
of said funds, but the expenditures shall be made in conformity with the ap- 
propriations under which the funds were levied and collected. 

§ IS. The board of education shall make returns annually, to the common 
council, of its receipts and expenditures, specifying those on account of the 
general and special funds i-espectively, witli such other details as the com- 
mon council may from time to time require. - 

S 19. No school in said city shall be entitled to auy portion of the school 
moneys, in which the religious sectarian doctrine or tenets of any particular 
christian or other religious sect shall be taught or inculcated, or which shall 
refuse or prohibit visits or examinations by the city superintendent or mem- 
bers of the board of education of said city ; provided that this section shall 
not be deemed to prohibit tiie use of the holy scriptures without note or com- 
ment. . . .... 

§ 20. The schools of the asylum societies, in said city, shall participate in 
the distribution of the school moneys, in such manner that they shall respect- 
ively receive a sum in proportion to the number of children who shall have 
actually attended such school without charge during the preceding year, for 
which school moneys are raised ; Avhich sum shall be equal to the amount 
paid to any of the public schools in said city, in proportion to the number of 
children wiio shall have actually attended any such school during tlie said 
precediuff year, actually orphans, or half orphans. 

[Laws of 1851, Chap. 229.] 
g 15. The amount of money to be raised in any one year for the siipport 
of Goinmou Schools in the city of Brooklyn, exclusive of the sums required 
to purchase sites, to build and repair school house?, and to entitle the city to' 



5289 

its share of the State School money, shall be such sum as the said Common 
Council may deem necessary therefor, not to exceed the amount now allow- 
ed by law. 

BUFFALO. 

[Laws of 1843, ch. 122, titles IT and IX, as amended by ch. lG&,lawsof 1849.] 

Title II. '§11 and 22. The common council shall, on the second Tues-. 
day of March in each year, or as soon thereafter as practicable, appoint by 
ballot, a city superintendent of common schools, who .shall hold his office un- 
til the second Tuesday of the month of March next after such appointment, 
unless sooner removed or disqualified, and until his successor in office shall be 
appointed, and enter upon his duties. 

[Title IX — of Common and other Schools.^ 

§ 1 . The mayor and aldermen of the city of Buffalo, shall, by virtue of 
their offices, be commission er.s of common schools in and for said city, and in 
common coundl shall perform all the duties of such commissioners, and shall 
possess all the rights, power and arith-irity of commissioners (town superin- 
tendents) of common schools in tlie several towns in this state. 

§ 2. The clerk of said city, shall be the clerk of the mayor and aldermen 
thereof, when acting as commissioners of common schools, and shall perform 
all the duties required of the town clerks of the several towns in the state, 
as clerks of the commissioners of common schools of such towns, and be sub- 
ject to the same penalties for the neglect thereof 

§ 3. In all appropriations of public money for schools, or other pui-poscs, 
the city of Buffalo shall be taken and considered as a town in the coimty of 
Erie, and shall be entitled to copies of laws in the same manner as other 
towns in said county ; and all such moneys or books shall be paid or deliver- 
•ed to the common council. 

§ 4. The common council may expend such portion as they may deem 
proper, of any library moneys hereafter received from the state, in binding 
and repairing the books in the city library, in pm'chasing maps and other 
apparatus for the schools, and in supplying indigent scholars in the schools 
under their charge, with necessary common school books, and other imple- 
ments of learning. 

§ 5. All the district schools organized within the city of Buffalo, shall be 
public, and free to all white childi-en residing within the district, under the 
age of sixteen [21] years, and the common council, by a vote of two-thirds of 
all the aldermen elected, are hereby authorized to include in the general an- 
nual city tax authorized to be raised, under the third section of the fifth title 
■of this act, such additional sum as, in their opinion, with the public school 
moneys for the year, will be sufficient to support their school system, and to 
defray the expenses of all the schools under their charge, except such of said 
expenses as may be raised by district tax. The moneys thus raised for school 
purposes, together with all moneys received from other sources for such 
purposes, shall constitute a separate fund, to be called the school fund, and a 
separate and distinct account thereof shaU be kept by the proper officer or of- 
ficers of the city ; and the moneys of this fund shall not be appropriated or 
diverted to any other purpose whatever. 

§ 6. The common councfl' shall provide and maintain one or more free 
schools in the city for the colored cliildren thereof ; and may purchase one or 
more sites, and erect thereon, furnish and maintain all buildings necessary for 
such schools ; and shall from time to time, raise all moneys necessary for 
these purposes, by general tax, in the manner provided by the last section. 

§ 7. The common council shall have power, and it shall be their duty, 
whenever it may be necessary so to do, 

1. To designate and purchase or lease, in each school district, a site or sites 
for the school-house or school houses therein, and to fence and improve the 
same as to them shall appear suitable and proper : 
19 



29a 

2. To build on such site or sites, or on any lot owned by sucli district, sucS' 
school-house or school-houses and out houses as shall to them appear suitable 
and sufficient for such districts : 

3. To complete, improve, enlarge or repair any district school-house, from 
time to time as they shall think proper, and to supply such school-houses, 
■whenever they deem it expedient, with such school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and appendages as they may direct ; and to prescribe the course and ex- 
tent of the studies to be pursued therein : 

4. To order from time to time, a tax to be levied upon all the taxable 
property of any district, sufficient to pay all such sums as they may have ex- 
pended or deem necessary to be expended in that district, for the purposes in 
this section above specified : 

5. To make out a tax roll or list of every district tax ordered by them, 
within sixty days after such district tax shall be ordered, similar in form to 
the general assessment roll in said city, ascertaining the valuation of the prop- 
erty to be taxed as far as possible from the last assessment roll of said city ; 
and no person shall be entitled to any reduction of the valuation of such prop- 
erty so ascertained, unless he shall give notice of his claim to such reduction 
to the city superintendent of common schools within ten days after the pas- 
sage of the order to raise such tax ; and when such valuation of taxable prop- 
erty cannot be ascertained from such assessment roll, the common council, or 
such superintendent, shall ascertain such valuatioxi by the best means in their 
power. Such rolls may be delivered for collection to the collector of the dis- 
trict or to the city collector : 

6. To make such by-laws and ordinances as they may deem necessary for 
the prosperity and good order and government of the common schools, and 
the secujity and preservation of the school-houses and other property belong- 
ing to the school districts, and to prescribe the duties and powers of the su- 
perintendent and of the several district clerks, trustees and collectors, in all 
cases not provided for by this act : 

•7. To require and take from the district- collectors such security as they 
may deem adequate ; if such security be not given by any such collector, they 
may remove him and apjwint a successor : 

8. To authoiize and require the superintendent of common schools in said 
city to do any act or to perform any duty required of any trustee of a school 
district of said city, in case of any vacancy in the office of trustee, or of the 
neglect or refusal of such trustee to perform such duty : 

9. To divide the district schools in said city into primary and higher 
departments or otherwise, whenever they shall deem such division desirable, 
and to prescribe regulations for the transfer of scholars from one department 
to the other, and also to direct the superintendent to provide suitable and suf-- 
ficient instructors for each of the said departments. 

§ 9. The superintendent of common schoolsof said city, shall be the execu- 
tive officer of the common council to carry into effect all the provisions of this 
act, and the ordinances and orders of the said common council, in respect to 
common schools ; and it shall be lawful for the said common council to assign 
to the said superintendent, the performance of any duty required of them, in- 
respect to the common schools of said city ; he shall, in respect to the com- 
mon schools of said city, possess all the powers and authority, and be subject 
to the duties and obligations of the inspectors o# common schools of the diift'er- 
ent towns of this state. He shall also have power, and it shall be his duty, 

1. To have the care and custody, and provide for the safe keeping of dis- 
trict school-houses in said city : 

2. To contract with and employ all teachers of the several district schoola 
therein : ' 

3. Under the direction of the common council, to contract for and super- 
intend the building, enlarging, improving, furnishing and repairing of all school- 
houses ordered to be erected by the said common council, and the making of all 
repairs and improvements on and around the same : 



291 

4. In all cases where no other provision is made by this act, to supply the 
place and perform tiie several duties in respect to the several school districts 
in said city, required of the trustees of the several school districts in this 
state, by the general statutes relating to common schools : 

5. To perform such other duties as may be from time to time imposed on 
liim by the common council. 

§ 10. The inhabitants of any school district entitled to vote at district 
meetings, when legally assembled in district meetmg, shall have the same 
power as is now given by law to the inhabitants of the several school districts' 
in the different towns in tl is state, except that there shall be but one trustee 
elected in each district ; and tliat such meeting shall not possess the power 
to designate the site for a school-house, or to lay a tax to purcliase or lease a 
site for a school-house, or to build, hire, or purchase a school-house for such 
district. The clerk and collector of such districts shall possess the powers 
and authority, and be subject to the same duties and obligations, as such of- 
ficers in the several districts of this state except a-; herein otherwise provided. 

§ II. It shall be sufficient notice of any annual, special or adjourned dis- 
trict meeting, to publish such notice once in each week, fur two successive 
weeks preceding the time of holding such meeting, m the city paper, and by 
affixing a copy of the same on the outer door of the district school-house, (if 
there be any,) and posting a copy of the same in three other public places in 
such district ; the posting of said notice to be clone at least ten days before 
such meeting ; and no other nohVc of any such meeting need be given. The 
annual meetings of such di^tiict shall be held on the Monday preceding the 
last Tuesday in Deeeiabcr in each year. The superintendent of the common 
schools for the said city, shall revise the proceedings of such meetings, and 
see that the proper records of such proceedings are made by the clerk in the 
book of district records, to be provided by the said superintendent, and kept 
by the clerk of such district for such purposes ; and tlie said superintendent, 
and the mayor and aldermen of said city, and every taxable inhabitant of such 
district shall be permitted by the clerk, at all proper times, to examine the same. 

§ 12. The trustee elected in any scliool district in said city shall have 
the power, and it shall be his duty, 

1. To call special meetings of the inhabitants of such district, liable to pay 
taxes, whenever it shall be by him deemed necessary or proper : 

2. To give notice of special, annual and adjourned meetings, in the manner 
prescribed in this act, if there be no clerk of the district, or he be absent or 
incapable of acting, or shall neglect or refuse to give such notice : 

3. To visit the schools kept in the district as often as once in each quar- 
ter, and to report tlie condition of the same, with such suggestions for the 
improvement thereof as he may deem proper to the common council : 

4. To perform such other duties as may be from time to time imposed up- 
on him by the conunon council. 

§ 13. The common council shall annually publish in the city paper a state- 
ment of the number of common schools in the said city ; the number of pupils 
instructed therein, the year preceding ; the /everal branches of education 
pursued by them, and the receipts and expenditures of each school, specifying 
the sources of such receipts, and the objects of such expenditure. 

BUSHWICK. 

[Laws 0/184:1, chap. 3] l.] 
AN ACT to provide for free schools in the town of BushwicJc. 

Passed October 16, 1847, " three-fifths being present." 
The People of the State of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do 
enact as follows : 

§ 1. The trustees of the several school districts in the town of Bushwick 
in the county of Kings shall annually, at least three weeks before their annu- 
al meeting, or of a special meeting to be called for that purpose, prepare an 
estimate of the amount which they shall deem necessary to pay the debts of 



292 

such district, and for the support of common schoola therein, for the ensuing 
year, esclusive of the moneys which they may be entitled to receive from the 
town superintendent, and including the sums required for the purchase of ne- 
cessary fm'niture, apparatus and books, and for contingent expenses, and shall 
cause printed notices thereof to be posted for two weeks thereafter, in live 
or more of the most public places in said districts. They shall present such 
estimate at such meeting, when the inhabitants of such district then present, 
shall vote thereon for each item separately, and the same or so much thereof 
as shall be approved of by a majority of such inhabitants, shall be levied and 
raised by tax on such district, as now provided by law for raising a district 
school tax. 

§ 2. When the trustees shall have completed the tax list, they shall deliv- 
er the same to the superintendent of schools for said town, who shall issue his 
warrant to the collector of taxes of said town, returnable in thirty days, for 
the collection of the same, and take from such collector approved security for 
the performance of his duty ; such warrant may be renewed from time to 
time. The moneys so collected shall be paid to said trustees, and by them 
appropriated to the purposes for which the same was voted, unless otherwise 
directed by a vote of the inhabitants, at their annual district school meeting, 
or a special meeting called for the purpose. 

§ 3. The tax hereby imposed shaU be a lien upon the lands taxed, to be 
enforced and collected by sale, in the manner that county taxes are, upon a 
return to be made by said collector to the treasurer of the county, of all un- 
paid taxes in said districts. 

§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 



CLYDE HIGH SCHOOL. 

l^Laws of 1834, chap. 175, as amended hy chap. 268 laws of 1842.] 

§ 1. School district number seventeen, in thetovsTi of Galen, in the coun- 
ty of Wayne, shall form a permanent school district, not subject to alteration 
by the Town Superintendent of Common Schools of the said town of Galen, 
and shall hereafter be known by the name of " The Clyde High School." 

§ 2. The Trustees of the Clyde High School, shall be seven in number ; 
and the first trustees shall be George Bun-ell, John Condit, Sylvester Clark, 
Cyrus Smith, Isaac Lewis, William S. Stow, and Calvin D, Tompkins ; and 
shall hold their offices until the first annual meeting of said permanent school 
district, and until others are chosen. 

§ 8. Said trustees are authorized to receive gifts, grants and donations, to- 
wards defraying the expenses of purchasing a, site and building a suitable 
school-house for said high school. 

§ 4. Said trustees, on receiving the sum of one thousand dollars, or hav- 
ing the said sum secured to be paid to them, by subscription or otherwise, shall 
have power to levy and cause to Ije raised by tax upon the taxable inhabitants 
of said permanent school district, a like sum of one thousand dollars ; but no 
such tax shall be levied until said trustees shall have called a special meeting 
of the taxable inhabitants of said permanent school district, in manner now 
provided by law, for calling special school district meetings. 

g 5. Said trustees shall report in writing to said meeting, the amount of 
moneys received by them, the sum or sums secui-edto be paid to them, and 
the manner in which it is secured ; and if the sum of one thousand dollars ap- 
pears to be paid or is secured to be paid to said trustees, said meeting shall 
proceed to elect a clerk and collector for said high school, who shall hold theu* 
offices until the first annual meeting of said permanent school district, and un- 
til others are chosen. 

§ 6. The trustees hereby appointed, and clerk and collector hereby direct- 
ed to be chosen, shall be subject to the same penalties, and shall hare the 
same powers, and perform the same duties, as like officers directed to be cho- 



sen by chapter fifteenth, title second, and article fifth of the revised Statutesi 
and all subsequent elections shall be held under that act. 

§ 7. The trustees of said high school shall select a suitable site in the vil- 
lage of Clyde for the erection of their school-house ; and shall contract for, 
and purchase the same, and thereon erect a school house of sufiicient size to 
accommodate such children as may be required to be educated in said perma- 
nent school district, and shall furnish the necesssary fm-niture and fixtui'es 
for the same. 

§ 8 School districts fourteen and seventeen, or either of them, may sell 
their district property and pay the amount of money arising from such sale 
or sales, to the trustees of the Clyde High School. 

§ 9. Said trustees on receiving such moneys, shall, if required by either 
district, deduct the amount from that part of the tax hereby directed to be 
imposed on the taxable inhabitants of the individual district paying the 
same. 

§ 10. The school money which school districts number fourteen and sev- 
enteen shall from time to time be entitled to receive from the commissioners 
of common schools in the town of Galen, shall be paid to the trustees of the 
Clyde High School; who shall be required to report to said commissioners in 
the same manner as other school districts are by law required to report. 

§ 11. The trustees receiving such moneys, shall give their receipt for the 
same, and shall apply the money received, exclusively to the payment of the 
teachers employed by them ; and it may be applied in such manner as to ren- 
der the tuition of such poor childi'en in said district as they may deem prop- 
er, gratuitous. 

§ 12. It shall be the duty of the trustees of the said high school, to make 
an annual report to the superintendent of common- schools, of the state and 
condition of the said school. 

§ 13. The trustees shall have the general superintendence of all schools 
taught in said school-house, and shall employ as many teachers and assistants 
as they shall deem necessary, and shall direct the course of instruction, and 
regulate all the internal concerns of said school. [§ 2, act of 1842.] The trustees 
of said Clyde High School may frura time to time, rent or lease for scholastic 
purposes, such rooms or apartments in their school house, as in their judgment 
may not be required for the use of schools therein, established by them . 

§ 14. This act shall take effect on the passage thereof ; andthelegislatm'C 
may at any time alter, modify, or repeal this act. 

COHOES. 

[Laws of 1850. Chap. 341.] 

AN ACT to establish Free Schools in the village of Cohoes. 

Passed April 10, 1850, "three-fifths being present." 
The People of the State of Nev) -York, represented in Senate atid Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

§ 1. The several school districts of the village of Cohoes, shall constitute 
one school district, and the schools therein shall be free to all children between 
the ages of five and twenty-one years, residing m such districts. 

^ 2. There shall be erected in each district one or more school-houses. 

§ 3. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, fvu-niture, books, apparatus 
and appurtenances, and all other school property in this act mentioned, sliall 
be vested in the village of Cohoes, and the same while used or appropriated for 
school purposes shall not be levied upon or sold by vu-tue of any warrant or ex- 
ecution, nor be subject to taxation ; and the said village, in its corporate capaci- 
ty, shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate trans- 
ferred to it by gifts, grants, bequest or devise, for the use of tlie common 
schools of said village. 



294 

§ 4. The trustees of said village may upon the recommendation of the 
board of education hereinafter mentioned, sell any of the school houses, lots, 
or sites, or any otlier school property now or hereafter belongmg to said vil- 
lage. The proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the treasurer of the vil- 
lage, and shall be expended under the direction of the board of education, for 
any school purpose. 

§ 5. There shall be elected at the annual election in said village, to be held 
on the first Tuesday of March, 1851, in the same manner that other village of- 
ficers are elected, from each of the districts in said village two trustees ; the 
persons so elected shall be residents of the district for which they shall be elect- 
ed, and shall within ten days after receiving notice of their election, take the 
oath of office prescribed by the Constitution of this State, and file the same with 
the village clerk. 

§ 6. Within ten days after as in the last section mentioned, said trustees so 
elected from these districts shall meet in the ofiice of the clerk of said village and 
shall determine by lot which of th '. two persons so elected for each district 
shall serve for the term of one year, and which for the term of two years. 

§ 7. In each year thereafter there shall be elected in said village at the an- 
nual election, in the same manner, and under the same regulations as other vil- 
lage officers are elected, one trustee of common schools for each district, to sup- 
ply the place of those whose terms are about to expire The term of office of 
all trustees elected pursuant to this act shall commence on the second Tuesday 
next after their election and shall continue two years. 

§ 8. The trustees of said village shall fill all vacancies which may happen 
by death, resignation, or removal from the district in which each or any of the 
trustees of common schools were elected ; the trustees so appointed shall hold 
their office until the second Tuesday succeeding the next annual election, and at 
each annual election there shall be elected a trustee to supply the place of any 
person so appointed, and the person thus elected shall serve out the unexpu-ed 
term. 

§ 9. Any trustee of common schools in said village may be removed from 
office for official misconduct, or neglect of duty, by the trustees of said village; 
but a written copy of the charges against said trustees shall be served upon 
liim, and he shall be allowed an opportunity to refute any such charge of mis- 
conduct or neglect of duty before removal. 

§ 10. The trustees of the several school districts of said village shall con- 
stitute a board to be styled the Board of Education of the village of Cohoes, 
which shall be a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties confer- 
red upon them by virtue of this act ; a majority of the board shall form a quo- 
rum. The first meeting of the board shall be held on the second Wednesday 
next after then- election, and the annual meeting of the board thereafter, shall 
be on the second Wednesday next after then- election. At the first meeting of 
the board and annually thereafter, at the annual meeting, they shall elect one 
of their number president of the board, and whenever he shall be absent a 
president pro tempore may be appointed. The said trustees shall receive no 
compensation for their services. 

§ 11. The trustees of the several school districts now existing in said 
village, shall within tliirty and not less than fifteen days preceding the time 
for holding their annual meetings, prepare estimates of the amount of money 
necessary to be raised in the district for continuing the several schools forthe time 
intervening between the time of holding the annual meeting and the first day of 
■March, 1851, when the present system shall be brought into use ; and they are re- 
quired within thirty days, and not less than fifteen days previous to the first day of 
March, 1851, to prepare an estimate of the amount ef money necessary to be 
raised in the several districts for the ensuing yeai', to be submitted to the annual 
village meeting, which estimate shall be made out in items and passed upon, 
item by item, by the legal voters present, and adopted or rejected wholly or in 
part ; the votes shall be taken by ayes and nays, or by ballot, if ordered by a 
majority of the voters entitled to vote for such taxes. 



295 

^ 12. It shall be the duty of said board of education, withiii thirty, and not 
less than fifteen days previous to the annual meeting, each year, to prepare an 
estimate of all sums necessary to be raised f >r all school purposes mentioned 
in this act, or deemed advisable by the board, and the specific sum necessary 
•for each item in said estimate, and publish the same two weeks in one or more 
of the village papers, which shall be voted for, item by item, in the same man- 
ner as prescribed in the 1 1th section of this act. 

§ 13. Said board of education shall appoint a clerk who may be one of 
their own number, who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the b<jard, 
and whose compensation shall be fixed by them. The said clerk shall keep a 
record of the proceedings of the board, and perform such other duties as the 
board may prescribe ; the said record or a transcript thereof, certified by the 
president and clerk, shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of 
the facts therein set forth, and such records and all the books, accounts, vouch-, 
ers and papers of said board, shall at all times be subject to the inspection 
of the trustees of the village, or any committee thereof." 

§ 14. The trustees of said village, shall have the power, and it shall be 
their duty to raise from time to time by tax, to be levied equally upon aU 
the real and personal estate in said village, liable to taxation for the ordinary 
Tillage taxes, or for town or couety charges, such sum or sums of money as 
may be approved of at the annual village meeting, for any or all the follow- 
ing purposes : 

1. To purchase, lease, or improve sites for school liouses : 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school hous- 
es and their out hoases and appurtenances : 

3. To purchase, excbange, improve andrepair school apparatus, books, fur- 
niture and appendages : 

4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the several 
schools and the board of education, and the expenses of the libraries of said 
village: 

5. To pay the wages of teachers due, after the application of the public 
moneys which may by law be appropriated and provided for that purpose. 
Provided, nevertheless, that the tax to be levied as aforesaid and collected by 
this act sliall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as other 
village taxes: 

6. To pay the expenses of insuring all the school property of said vil- 
lage. 

§. 15. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all 
school moneys by law appropriated to, or provided for said village, shall be paid 
to the treasurer thereof, who, together with the sureties upon his oflncial bond, 
shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as for otber moneys of said 
village ; the said treasm-er shall be liable to the same penalties for any official 
misconduct in relation to said moneys as for any similar misconduct in rela- 
tion to the otlier moneys of said village. The treasurer shall pay out all 
school moneys on the warrant of the board of education, signed by its presi- 
dent and clerk, and all accounts so paid shall be accompanied by the affida- 
vit of the owner thereof, setting fortli that the claims are reasonable, and that 
all the articles named were furnished by the direction of the legally appoint- 
ed officers. 

§ 16. The said board shall have power, and it shall be their duty, 

1. To establish and organize in said village a system of education embra- 
cing such and so many schools (including tlie common schools now existing 
therein) as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discon- 
tinue the same as may be found necessary. 

2. To hire or cause to be hired school houses and rooms as they may find 
it necessary for the accommodation of the students in said village. 

3. To alter, improve and repair school houses and appurtenances, as they 
may deem advisable. 

4. To purchase, improve and repair school apparatus, books for indigent 
pupUs, furniture and otlier necessary articles, including libraries. 



296 

5. To have the custody and safe keeping of the school houses, out honse^ 
books, furnitm-e and appendages. 

6. To contract -with and employ all teachers in said schools, and at, their 
pleasure remove them. 

'7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriated and. 
provided by law for that purpose, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and 
the residue thereof from the moneys authorized to be raised for that pui'pose- 
by section foxu-teen of this act, by tax upon said village. 

8. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including 
an annual salary to the clerk, provided the account of such expenses shall 
fh-st be audited and allowed by the board of trustees of said village. 

9. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and manage- 
ment of the common schools in said village, and from time to time to adopt, 
alter, modify and repeal as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations 
for their organizatiop, government and instruction, for the reception of pupils 
and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for the promotion 
of then- good order, prosperity and public utility. 

10. Whenever, in the opinion of the board, it may be advisable to sell any 
of the school houses, lots or sites, or any of the school property noAV or here- 
after belonging to the village, to report the same to the trustees of the vil- 
lage. 

11. Between the first day of July and the first day of August, in each 
yeai-, to make and transmit to the county clerk or such other officer as may 
be designated by law in the year of its transmission, and stating, 

1. The number of school houses in said village, and an account and de- 
scription of all the common schools kept in said village dui'ing the preceding:' 
year and the time they have severally been taught. 

2. The number of children taught in said schools respectively, and the 
number of children over the age of five yeai-s and under the age of sixteen 
[21] years, residing in said village on the first day of January ol that year. 

3. The whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of said 
village during the year preceding, distinguishing the amount received from 
the coiinty treasurer fi-om the village tax and from any other source. 

4. The manner in which such money had been expended and whether any 
and what part remains unexpended, and for what cause. 

5. The amount of money received as tuition fees from foreign pupils du- 
ring the year, and the amount paid for teachers' wages in addition to the pub- 
lic moneys, with such other information relating to the common schools of said 
village as may from time to time be required by the state superintendent of 
common schools. 

§ 11. It shall be the duty of each trustee to visit the schools in his dis- 
tinct twice in each year, and the board of education shallprovide that each 
of the schools in the village shall be visited by a committee of thi-ee or more 
of then- number or by their clerk at least once in each term. 

§ 18. The said board of education shall have power to allow the children 
of persons not resident within the village to attend any of the schools of said 
village under the care and control of said board upon such terme as said 
board shall by resolution prescribe, fixing the tuition which shall be paid 
therefor. 

§ 19. It shall be the duty of such board in all their expenditures and con- 
tracts to havej reference to the amount of moneys which shall be subject to 
their order dm-ing the then cm-rent year for the particular expenditui'e ia 
question and not to exceed4hat amount. 

§ 20. The said board of trustees shall be trustees of the school library or 
libraries in said village, and all the provisions of law which now are, or may 
hereafter be passed relative to district school libraries shall apply to said trus- 
tees, they shall also be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition, 
of the moneys appropriated by any law of this State for the purchase of li- 
braries which is therein conferred upon the inhabitants of school districts.. 



297 

§ 21. The said board of education shall have the control of all the books 
and appurtenances belonging to the libraries of said village, shall appoint a 
librarian or librarians and regulate the di-awing of books from said library. 

§ 22. It shall be the duty of said board at least three weeks before the 
annual election of trustees in each year, to prepare and report to tlie village 
trustees true and correct statements of the receipts and disbursements under 
and in pursuance of the provision* of this act, during the preceding year, in 
which account shall be stated under appropriate beads, 

1. The moneys raised by the village trustees under the fourteenth section 
of this act. 

2. The school moneys received by the village treasurer from all sources. 

3. The moneys received by the village trustees under the third section of 
this act. 

4. All other moneys received by the treasui-er subject to the order of the 
board, specifying the sources. 

5. The manner in which such sums of money shall have been expended, 
specifying the amount paid under each head of expenditure ; and the trus- 
tees of said village shall at least cause the same to be published in one or 
more of the newspapers published in said village, for two weeks before such 
election, and cause written or printed notices to be posted on each school- 
house door. 

§ 23. It shall be the duty of the clerk of said village, immediately after 
the election of any person as a trustee of common schools, to personally, or 
in wi'iting, notify him of his election, and if any such person shall not, within 
ten days after receiving such notice of his election, take and subscribe the 
constitutional oath and file the same with the clerk of the eaid village, the 
trustees of said village may consider it a refusal to serve, and proceed to 
supply the vacancy occasioned by such refusal, and the persons so refusing 
shall forfeit and pay to the village treasurer, for the benefit of the contingent 
fund, a penalty of ten doUars. 

§ 24. It shall be the duty of the several school districts in the village of 
Cohoes, on or before the fij-st Tuesday in March, 1851, to transfer and convey 
to said village all school houses, sites, ?ots and all other school property of 
whatever name and description, and to place in care of the board of educa- 
tion, all school districts, records, account books, vouchers, contracts, papers, 
and other school property, and the said board shall settle all imsettled business 
of the several school districts or parts of districts now existing in said village. 

§ 25. All laws or parts of laws conflicting with tliis act are hereby repealed. 

§ 26. This act shall take effect immediately. 

DELHI. 

[Laws of 1851. Chap. 23.] 

AN" ACT authorizing the election of three trustees and a district cleric in sch-ool 

district number sixteen, located in the village of Delhi. 

Passed Feb. 26, 1851, " three-fifths being present." 

l^he People of the State of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

§ 1. At the first annual meeting of the trustees and inhabitants of the 
village of Delhi, after the passage of this act, it shall be the duty of the le- 
gal voters thereat to elect three persons legally quahfied and inhabitants of 
said village, who shall be styled " trustees of the school district of said vil- 
lage," and also one person as district clerk of said district, and they respect- 
ively shall have all the powers over the said district, and shall discharge all 
the duties which by law are given to and enjoined upon trustees and dis- 
ti-iot clerks of school districts. 



298 

§ 2. The trustees so chosen shall be divided by lot into three classes, to 
be numbered one, two and three, the term of office of the first class shall be 
one year, of the second, two, and of the third, three years, and one trustee 
only shall thereafter annually be elected, ■who shall hold his office for three 
years, and until a successor shall be duly elected or appointed. In case of a va- 
cancy in the office of trustees during the period for which he or they shall 
have been respectively elected, the persem or persons chosen or appointed to 
fill such vacancy, shall hold the office only for the unexpired term. 

§ 3. The district clerk shall hold his office for one year, or until a succes- 
sor shall be duly elected. 

§ 4. So much of chapter one hundred and twelve, section ten, of an act 
entitled " An act to incorporate the trustees and inhabitants of Delhi and to 
invest them "^ith certain powers," passed March sixteenth, eighteen hundred 
and twenty one, as is inconsistent with the foregoing sections of this act, la 
hereby repealed. 

§ 5. I'his act shall take effect immediately. 

FLUSHING. 

[Laws of 1848. Chap. 81, as amended by Chap, ll*?, laws of 1849.] 

KS ACT to establish free schools in district nu7nber Jive, in the town of 

Flushing. 

' Passed March 10, 1848, "three-fifths being present." 

The People of the State of New -York, represented m Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as folloios : 

§ 1. School district number five in the town of Flushing, in the county of 
Queens, shall form a permanent scliool district, and shall not be subject to al- 
teration by tlie town superintendent of common schools for the town in which 
said district is situated. 

§ 2. The said district shall be under the dhection of a board to be styled 
" the board of education," which board shall consist of five members, three or 
more of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business ; Effing- 
ham W. Lawrence, Edward E. Mitchell, Samuel B. Parsons, William H. Fair- 
weather and Thomas Leggett, junior, shall compose the first boai'd of educa- 
tion, and shall hold their offices from one to five years ; that is to say, one 
shall go out of office in each year, and in tlie order in which theu- names stand 
recorded in this section. 

§ 3 There shall be elected in each year in said district, one member of 
said board of education, who shall be a resident and taxable inhabitant of 
said district, and shall hold his office for five years ; the said election shall take 
place at the annual meeting of said district, and the board of education shall 
appoint three suitable persons as inspectors of said election, and of aU other 
elections provided for by this act, except as provided in section fourteenth of 
tills act, within thirty days next preceding any such election ; such elections 
shall be by ballot, and notice thereof shall be given, the same shall be held 
and conducted, the votes shall be canvassed, and the result of the election de- 
termined in the same manner as in the case of the annual election of other 
village officers. 

§ 4. The said board of education may make all necessary by-laws for theif 
government, they shall have the entire control and management of all the 
common schools within the said district and all the property belonging to the 
same, they shall have and possess within the said district, all the rights, pow- 
ers, and authoi'ity of town superintendent of common schools. They may ap- 
point a collector with all the powers and duties of a district collector, or may 
employ the town or village collector for that purpose, and such collector shall 
collect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district, to the 
ti'easurer of the board of education in the same manner and under the same 



299 

conditions as is imposed by the laws of the town or village of which he is such 
collector. They shall require two of the members of said board to visit each 
school in said district at least once in each week, to render such assistance to 
the teachers, and advice to the pupils as maybe necesssry, and to see thatthe^ 
regulations are rigidly adhered to. - 

§ 5. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered 
to rai-^e a sum not exceeding the sum of five thousand dollars, either by a tax 
on said district or by a loan, such loan to be secured by a mortgage upon the 
public school property of said district to be executed by said board iu theii' 
official capacity. 

§ 6. The said board of education in addition to the other taxes which they 
are hereby authorized to raise, may levy and collect a sum sufficient to pay 
interest on loans as the same becomes due, and wheuever any part of the prin- 
cipal of such loans becomes due, they shall levy and collect an amount suffi- 
cient to pay the same, which sums when collected shall be paid over by said 
board in discharge of such principal and mterest. 

§ 7. The said board of education are hereby authorized and directed to 
levy and collect by tax in each year, upon all the taxable property in said dis- 
trict, such sum as may be necessary, not exceeding in amount one-fifth of one 
per cent, on the value of such taxable property, as the same shall be a.ssessed 
by the assessors of the town of Flushing. And the said board shall add to 
the amount of any warrant for the collection of taxes such amount as they 
shall deem proper, as the collector's fees for collection, which compensation, 
however, shall in no case exceed five per cent, on the amount of any warrant 

§ 8. The town superintendent of common schools of the town of Flushing 
shall pay over to the treasurer of the board of education all the public mon- 
eys to which said district number five shall be entitled for school purposes. 

§ 9. The said board of education shall call an annual district meeting at such 
time in the year as they may think proper, aud shall submit thereto a full report 
in writing of their doings as such board ; and shall state therein the number 
and condition of the schools in said district under their charge, and the num- 
ber of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys 
received from the State as well as the amount required in the district for 
school purposes, aud the expenditure of the same, and generally all the par- 
ticulars relating to the schools in said district, which report shall immediately 
after it is made be published in a newspaper published in the town of Flushing 
for two weeks, and once in each week. 

§ 10. The board of aducation sliall have control and charge of the district 
school library in said district, they may employ a librarian, make such addition 
to the library, and such regulations in relation thereto, as they shall deem ne- 
cessary. 

§ 11. The school for the colored children under the charge of the female 
association, in the village of Flushing, may with the consent of said associa- 
tion, be taken under the charge of the board of education, and be organized 
as a district school, and be supported as the other schools in said district are 
under this act. 

§ 12. Whenever the said board of education shall deem it necessary to 
erect one or more school houses in said district, they shall prepare an estimate 
showing the location proposed, the cost of the ground required, a plan of the 
building, with the estimated cost of the building and appurtenances, and shall 
submit the same to the electors of said district at a special meeting to be called 
for that purpose, in the same manner as other special meetings are required to 
be called, and if a majority of all the electors present at such meeting shall vote 
in favor of the same, then said b«ard may proceed to erect said school house 
or houses in the manner projDOsed by said estimate, and if the sum authorized 
to be raised by section five of this act should be insufficient to pay the estima- 
ted cost of such buildings and ground., with the expense of giading and regu- 
lating the grounc's, building the necessary out houses and fences, with the cost 
of necessary books, stationary and necessary apparatus for the school house 
and rooms, then the said board of education may raise a sum in addition to 



300 

the sum mentioned in section five, and in the manner therein authorized, a sum 
not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars, and they are also authorized to levy and 
collect such amount as may be necessary topay the principal or interest of such 
^ additional sum as the same may become due in the same manner as is provided 
in section sixth of the said act. 

§ 1 3. The said board of education may call special meetings of said dis- 
trict Avhenever they may deem it necessary : they shall give notice of the same 
by posting up a written or printed notice thereof, in at least four- public places 
in said village, and by pubUshing the same in a newspaper published in the 
village of Flushing, at least one week previous to the time fixed for said meet- 
ing, which notice shall state the time and place of such meeting, and the purpose 
for which the same is called ; and-no business shall be transacted at any such 
special meeting, except that stated in the notice calhng the same. 

§ 14. [Provides for submitting the act f6r the approval of the legal voters 
of the district.] 

§ 15. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby re- 
pealed, so far as the same relate to district number five in the town of Flush- 
ing. 

GLENS FALLS. 

[Laws of 1851. Chap, 424:.] 

AN ACT to unite the libraries of the common school districts of the village of 

Glens Falls. 

Passed July 9,1851. 

§ 1. The libraries of school districts number two, seven, eight, eighteen, 
nineteen, twenty, in the town of Queensbury, in Warren county, shall be united 
into one common hbrary for the joint use of 'the inhabitants of the said districts, 
to be called the common school library of Glens Falls ; and the library mon- 
ey which shall now be or may hereafter become due to the said districts, shall 
be paid over by the town superintendent to the directors of the said library, 
to be appointed as hereinafter mentioned, on the same terms and conditions 
as the said money is now paid over to the trustees of the school districts. 

§ 2. On or before the last Monday in April, eighteen hundred and fifty- 
one, it shall be the duty of the board of trustees of the village of Glens Falls, 
to appoint thi-ee directors, who and whose successors shall be known as " the 
directors of the common school library of Glens Falls," who shall have the 
sole and exclusive control of the property and funds of said library. The said 
directors shall be divided by lot into three classes, numbered one, two and 
thi-ee, and, the term of office of the first class shall be one year, that of the sec- 
ond class two years, and that of the third class thi-ee years ; and on or before 
the last Monday in AprU in each year thereafter, one director shall be chosen, 
who shall hold his office for three years and until a successor shall be duly ap- 
pointed. In the case of a vacancy in the office of any director during the pe- 
riod for which he shall have been chosen, the person to fill such vacancy shall 
hold the office only for the unexpu-ed term of three years. 

§ 3. It shall be the duty of the said directors, 

1. To estabhsh and organize on a proper basis the said " common school 
library." 

2. To purchase books, exchange or cause to be repaired damaged books, 
sell any books they may deem useless or not suited to the library, and apply 
the proceeds to the purchase of other books for the saidUbrary, and to pui-- 
chase maps and apparatus for the joint use of the school districts : 

3. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and manage- 
ment of' the said library and funds, and to adopt, modify and repeal as they 
may deem expedient, rules and regulations for the government, safe keeping 
and preservation of the same, and the promotion of its public utility, and 
to make and enforce proper penalties for the violation of its rules and regu- 



301 

4. On or before the last Monday in April in each year, to report to th« 
trustees of the village of Glens Falls a statement of the books which they 
have purchased the preceding year, together with an account of their expen- 
ses and disbursements, and such other matters connected with the condition 
of the said library as they shall deem proper : 

5. And shall further perform all other duties not inconsistent with this act, 
and be subject to all the liabilities of the trustees of the school district libra- 
ries ; but their expenditures are to have reference to the funds subject to their 
order during the current year. 

§ 4. It shall also be the duty of the said directors annually to appoint a libra- 
rian, who shall be subject to all the requirements and perform ail such duties- 
not inconsistent with this act as are now requii-ed to be performed by the li- 
brarians of the school districts. 

§ 6. The directors are empowered to pay the librarian a sum not exceed- 
ing twelve dollars per annum for his services, and may audit and allow other 
proper accounts and expenses necessary for the maintenance, support and 
proper conduct of the said library, to a sum not exceeding eight dollars per 
year ; and it shall be the duty of the trustees of the village to furnish suita- 
ble cases for the preservation of the said library, and of all addi.tions to the 
same. All expenses incurred by the provisions of this section to be paid by 
the village corporation. But the said dnectors shall perform their services 
without compensation. 

§ 6. The said directors shall have the same power and authority in regard 
to the prosecution and defence of aU suits at law touching the property of the 
said library as are now possessed by trustees of school districts in relation to 
school district property ; but all such suits shall be prosecuted ov defended, 
and also all fines and penalties that may be imposed by the terms of this act, 
shall be collected in tlie name of the " common school library of Glens 
Falls ;" and this provision shall extend to all books which may be in the 
hands of individuals and not returned to the libraries of the respective 
school districts at the time of the passage of this act ; and all the rights and 
duties of thg trustees with regard to such books, shall be vested in the said 
directors. 

§ 7. The legislature may at any time alter or repeal this act. 

§ 8. This act shall take effect immediately. 



HUDSON. 

\^Laws of\Q4:\. Chap. 350, as amended by Chap. 12, laws of 1843, and 
Chap. 132, laws of 1844.] 

AN ACT in relation to common schools in the city of Hudson. 

The People of the State of Neio -York, represented in Senate and Assembly 
do enact as foUotvs : ' 

§ 1. The members of the common coimcil of the city of Hudson shall by 
virtue of their office be commissioners for common schools in and for said city, 
and in common council shall perform all the duties of such conmiissioners, 
and shall possess all the rights, powers and authority, and shall be subject to 
all the duties and obUgations of commissioners of common schools [town su- 
perintendent] in the several towns of this state, and shall have power, 

1. To divide the city into school districts of which there shall not be less 
than three in the compact part of the city. 

2. They shall designate, purchase, or lease, or otherwise obtain, in eac 
school district, a site or sites for a school house or the school houses therein 
and shall fence or improve the same in such manner as to them shall appear 
suitable and proper. 



302 

S. They shall cause to be built or procured in eacb district such school 
house or school houses and out houses, as shall appear to them suitable and 
sufficient. 

4. They shall complete, improve, enlarge or repair any district school 
house, from time to time, as they shall think proper ; and they shall supply 
the district school houses, whenever they shall deem it expedient, -with such 
pchool apparatus, books, furniture and appendages as they may think neces- 
sary. 

5. They shall appoint, in the manner provided by them for the appoint- 
ment of other officers of said city, three persons to be denominated a board 
of superintendents ; of these three persons the one first chosen shall continue 
in office for three years ; the one next appointed shall continue in office for 
two years, and the one last appointed shall continue in office for one year. 

6. They shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to make such by- 
laws and ordinances as may be in their opinion necessary for the prosperity 
and good order and efficient government of the common schools, and the secu- 
rity and the preservation of the schoolhouses, and other property belonging 
to the school districts ; and to prescribe the duties and powers of the board 
of superintendents in all eases not provided for by this act. 

T. They shall require and take from the superintendents and collectors 
such security as they shall deem expedient, and if such security is not given 
by any superintendent or collector, the said common council may declare his 
office forfeited, and appoint another superintendent or collector in his place. 

8. They shall supply a vacancy produced in the board of superintendents 
from any cause ; the person appointed to fill such vacancy shall continue in 
office during the unexpired remainder of the term for which his predecessbr 
was chosen, and no longer, unless reappointed. 

9. They shall divide the district schools in said city into primary and 
higher departments or otherwise, whenever they shall deem such division de- 
sirable ; and they shall prescribe regulations for the transfer of scholars from 
one department to another, and they shall direct the board of superintend- 
ents to provide a sufficient number of suitable instructors for each of these de- 
partments. 

§ 2. The clerk of said city by right of office shall be the clerk of the may- 
or and aldermen thereof when acting as commissioners of common schools, 
and he, as such clerk, shall perform all tlie duties in reference to said city, 
that the town clerks in the several towns in this state perform as clerks of 
common schools in such towns, and be subject to the same penalties for the 
neglect tliereof, 

§ 3. The board of superintendents of common schoools in the city of Hud- 
son shall in respect to the common schools in said city, possess all the powers 
and be subject to all the duties and obligations of the inspectors of the com- 
mon schools in the different towns in this state ; it shall carry into effect all 
the ordinances and orders of the common council in respect to common schools ; 
and it shall be lawful for the said common council to assign to said board any 
duty required of them, in respect to the common schools in said city. The 
said board shall be under the direction of the common council, and they shall 
have power, and it shall be their duty, 

1. To contract for and superintend the building, enlarging, improving, fur- 
nishing and repairing of all school houses under the charge of said common 
mon council, and the making of all repairs and improvements on and around 
the same. 

2. To provide for the safe keeping of the district school houses in said 
city. 

3. To contract with and employ all the teachers in the several districts 
therein. 

4. To prevent scholars resident in one district from attending a school in 
another district, and also to prevent scholars from going from one school to 
another in the same district, without having in both the above cases written 
permission so to do from the said board. 



5. To select such books as they shall deem most suitable to be used as 
class books in the schools, and to establish an uniformity in all the schools in 
regard to the books used therein. 

6. To visit each school as often as once in each quarter, and to report the 
condition of the same, with such suggestions for the improvement thereof, 
to the common council as they may deem advisable, which reports shall be 
published by the common council in two of the city papers. 

7. To remove any teacher, on manifest neglect of duty, or upon his viola- 
ting bis contract ; upon paying such teacher pro rata for the time he has been 
employed. 

8. To pay the wages of all the teachers by orders on the common council 
as commissioners of common schools, so far as the public money in their 
liands, or the money raised by tax, as to be hereafter provided for, and the 
money paid over by the collector of the rate-bills, shall be sufficient for the 
purpose. 

9. To make out rate-bills for the payment of teacher and contingent ex- 
penses, against the parent or guardian of each scholar, and expense of collec- 
tion of the same, (except those exempted, as hereafter to be provided for,) 
which shall not however exceed two dollars per quarter for each scholar ; and 
no bill shall be made out for less time than one quarter, and to annex thereto 
a warrant for the collection thereof. 

§ 4. The said common council of the city of Hudson, shall appoint a col- 
lector or collectors for the purpose of collecting the rate bills, if any are made 
out by the board of superintendents ; rate-bills shall be made out and levied 
upon the parents or guardians of children sent to the district schools, in the 
manner provided by law in respect to school districts, except such as shall 
procure a certificate of inability to pay the same, from the aldermen or assis- 
tant aldermen of the ward in which such parent or guardian resides. 

§ 1. [Act of 1843.] The board of superintendents appointed or to be 
appointed under the act hereby amended, are hereby authorized to receive 
all the moneys intended for the support of common schools in and for the 
city of Hudson, and to expend the same as provided in said act. 

§ 2. [Act of 1843.] It shall be the duty of the treasurer of the county of 
Columbia, and of the collectors of taxes in and for the city of Hudson, and 
of the collectors of rate-bills, under the provisions of the act hereby amended, 
to pay over directly to the said board of superintendents all the moneys that 
may come into the hands of said treasurer and said collectors respectively, 
intended for the benefit and support of common schools in said city. 

§ 5. The said common council shall be authorized to borrow the sum of 
five thousand dollars for twenty years, at a rate of interest not exceeding six 
per cent, per annum, for the purpose of procuring suitable school houses for 
said city, with such appurtenances and improvements as may be deemed ex- 
pedient. 

§ 6. The Comptroller is hereby authorized to loan to the city of Hudson, 
the sum of five thousand dollars to be paid in twenty equal annual instal- 
ments, out of any moneys now or hereafter in the treasury of this state, be- 
longing to the capital of the common school fund, on receiving from the cham- 
berlain in behalf of the said city, a bond conditioned from him as treasurer 
of said city and his successor in office, to repay the said sura in twenty equal 
annual instalments, together with the annual interest on said loan from the 
time it was made, at the rate of six per cent, per annum, and which bond said 
chamberlain is hereby authorized to make and execute. 

§ 7. The common council of said city are hereby authorized to raise by 
tax upon the real and personal property of said city, in the same manner as 
the general taxes of said city are levied and collected, the annual interest of 
the above mentioned loan, and to pay over the same in discharge of such in- 
terest ; and also in each year in which an instalment of the above loan shall 
become due, to raise, levy and collect in the same manner, a sum equal to that 
instalment, and to pay over the same in discharge thereof, and the said com- 
mon council shall also in the same manner raise, levy and collect such sum 



304 

Btmually, not exceeding Wo hundred dollai's, as may be necessary for repairs, 
urniture of said school buildings and contingent expenses. 

§ 8. The supervisors of the county of Columbia, at their annual meeting 
in each year, shall cause a sum of money equal to four times the amount of 
money apportioned to the city of Hudson from the common school fund, to- 
gether yritli the collector's fees, to be raised, levied and collected in the same 
manner tliat other taxes are raised, levied and collected, and vrhcn so raised 
t^sbe paid to the board of superintendents for the support of common schoold 
in said city. 

§ 9. After the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, the eommon 
council shall have it in their povrer to reduce, if they deem it expedient, the 
above sum to twice the amount apportioned to the city of Hudson, from the 
eomnion school fund, and have recourse to the system of rate-bills as adopted 
la the several towns in this state, to supply deficiencies. 

§ 1. [Act of lS4r4.] It shall be the duty of the board of superintendents 
oi common schools of the city of Hudson, annually hereafter to appoint a li* 
brai'ian for the joint school district library in said city, who shall perform all 
the duties and be subject to all the restrictions and liabilities now required 
or imposed upon librarians in the several school districts of the state : and 
may be removed from office and a successor appoined by said superintendents 
for any wilful neglect of duty, and whenever they shall have reason to ap- 
prehend the loss of, or injury to any of the books belonging to such library, 
tlu'ough his misconduct. 

§ 2. [Act of 1844. J The common council of said city are hereby authori- 
sed and empowered, annually to appropriate such sum for the compensation o 
said librarian as they may deem expedient, not to exceed the siun of fifty dol- 
lars, which shall be raised, levied, and collected in the same manner as other 
city charges, and when so coUect'ed shall be paid over to the supermtendents 
aforesaid, to be by them appropriated as specified in the first section of this 
act. 

§ 10. All the general laws of this state relating to common schools and 
their ofilcers, excepC as the same are modified by this act, shall extend to and 
include the schools established under this act, and the commissioners, inspec- 
tors and other officers having charge thereof or in any way connected there- 
with. 

§ 11. All laws relating to the appointment of commissioners and mspec- 
tors of common scliools in the city of Hudson, and the act entitled, " An act 
to authorize the raising of money for the support of the Lancaster school of 
the city of Hudson," passed Miiy 11, 1SS5, and all other acts which conflict 
with tins act, are hereby repealed. 

§ 12. This act shall take effect immediately. 

LANSINGBURGH. 

[Latcs of 1847. Chap. 336.] 

AN" ACT to provide for a free school hi district nnniber one in the town of 

Lansinghurgh. 

Passed October 26, 184'7, " three-fifths being present." 

The People of the State of New - York, represented in Senate and Assemblpt 
do enact asfolloics : 

§ 1. The trustees of school district nmnber one in the town of Lansing- 
burgh, in the county of Rensselaer, shall annually, at least thi-ee weeks be- 
fore their annual meeting, prepare an estimate of the amount which they 
sliall deem necessaiy to pay the debts of such district, and lor the support 
of common schools therein, for the ensuing year, exclusive of the moneys 
which they may be entitled to receive from the town superintendent, and in- 



305 

eluding the sums required for the purchase of necessary furniture, apparatus 
and books, and for contingent expenses, and shall cause printed or wiitten 
notices thereof to be posted for two weeks thereafter, in five or more of the 
most public places in said district. They shall present such estimate at such 
annual meeting, when the inhabitants of such district, entitled to vote at 
school district meetings, then present, shall vote thereon, and the same having 
been approved of by a majority of such inhabitants, shall be levied and raised 
by tax on such district, as now provided by law for raising a district pchool tax. 

§ 2. When the trustees shall have completed the tax list, (hey shall issue 
their warrant to the collector of taxes of said district, returnable in thirty 
days, for the collection of the same, and take from such collector approved 
security for the performance of his duty ; such warrant may be renewed from 
time to time. The moneys so collected shall be paid to said trustees, and by 
them appropriated to the purposes for which the same was voted, unless oth- 
erwise directed by a vote of the inhabitants, at their annual district school 
meeting, or a special meeting called fi)r the purpose. 

§ 3. The tax hereby imposed shall be a lien upon the lands taxed, to 
be enforced and collected by sale, in the manner that county taxes are, upon 
a return to be made by said collector to the treasurer of the county, of all un- 
paid taxes in said district. 

§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 

LOCKPORT. 

. [Laws of 184t1, Chap. 51, Laws of 1850. CTiap. 11,] 

AN ACT in relation to common schools in the village of Lockport. 

Passed March 3 1, 1847, "three-fifths being present." 

The People of the State oi New -York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do Enact as follows : 

§ I. School districts numbers one, two, five, seven, eight, fifteen and six- 
teen, of Lockport, lying principally within the village of Lockport, are here- 
by consolidated for the purposes and to the extent in this act specified ; and 
shall hereafter, for such purposes, and to such extent, form but one school dis- 
trict, to be called " The union school district of Lockport." 

§ 2. Said seven school districts shall remain and continue separate and 
distinct, for the purposes and to the extent in this act specified : and shall be 
called " primary school districts," and numbered as follows : ^ 

Said district number one, shall form primary district number one • 
Said district number two, shall form primary district number two- 
Said district number seven, shall form primary district number three; 
Said district number fifteen, shall form primary district number four • 
Said district number eight, shall form primary district number five- 
Said district number sixteen, shall form primary district number six ; and 
Said district number five, shall form primary district number seven. 
Said districts shall not be subject to alteration except by the acts of the 
legislature, or by resolution of the board of education hereinafter created. 
The schools in said primary districts, shall be used as preparatory schools for 
the instruction of children until they arrive at a certain age, and attain a cer- 
tain proficiency in learning ; who shall then be transferred, upon the proper 
testimonials, into the union school hereinafter mentioned ; the age, qualifica- 
tions and testimonials, to be prescribed by the by-laws, rules and regulations 
of the board of education hereinafter created. 

§ 3. Sullivan Cavemo, residing in primary district number one ; 
William G. M'Master, residing in primary district number two ; 
Joseph T. Bellah, residing in primary district number three ; 
Silas H. Marks, residing in primary district number four ; 
20 



306 

Isaac C. Coulton, residing in primary district number five ; 

John S. Woolcott, residing in primary district number six ; and 

Edwin L. Boardman, residing in primary district number seven, are hereby 
appointed trustees in behalf of such districts respectively ; and Nathan Dayton, 
Samuel Works, Jonathan L. Woods, Lyman A. Spaulding and Hiram Gardner, 
are hereby appointed trustees in behalf of said union district. The trustees 
io named, and their successors, to be chosen as hereinafter provided, are liere- 
by constituted a corporation by the name of " The board of education for the 
Tfillage of Lockport." 

§ 4. On the iirst Monday of September next, there shall be Elected, in the 
manner that trustees of school districts are now elected, by each primary dis- 
trict, one trustee, (who shall be a resident of such primary district,) to fill the 
places of those named in the last section, in behalf of such districts respect- 
ively. On the first Monday of October next, there shall be elected in like 
manner, by a meeting of the persons quaUfied to vote for school district offi- 
cers, residing witliin the bounds of said union district, five trustees, resident 
of said union district, to fill the places of those named in the last section, in 
behalf of said union district. Annually thereafter, on the days above speci- 
fied for such elections, there shall in like manner, be elected four trustees to 
fill the j^Iaces of those whose terms shall next thereafter expire, as hereinafter 
provided. The trustees named in the third section above, shall hold their of- 
fices until the first Monday of January next, and until their successors shall be 
chosen and enter upon the discharge of the duties of their offices respectively. 
Every officer elected under this act, shall enter upon the duties of his office 
on the fii'st Monday of January next succeeding his election, and shall hold his 
office for the term hereinafter provided, and until liis successor shall be elected, 
and shall enter upon the discharge of the duties of his office. Within ten days 
after any such election, the clerk of such district shall certify to said board of 
education, the names of the officers so elected. 

§ 5. Within ten days after the first election of trustees of said union dis- 
trict, as provided in the last section, all the trustees so elected by said primary 
and union districts, or a majority of them, shall meet and cause the whole 
number of trustees so elected, to be divided into three classes ; to be severally 
nimibered first, second and third. The term of office of the first class, shall 
expire at the end of one yeai' ; of the second class, at the end of two years ; 
and of the third class, at the end of three years from the first Monday of Janu- 
uary next. There shall also be elected in each of said districts, at the time of 
so electing trustees, a clerk, who shall hold his office for one yeai', and until 
his successor be elected, and enter upon the duties of his office. 

§ 6. There shall annually be appointed by said board of education, a col- 
l#:tor, librarian, and treasurer of said union district ; who shall each, within 
ten days after receiving notice in writing, of his appointment, and before en- 
tering upon the duties of his office, execute and deliver to said board of edu- 
cation, a bond in such penalty, and with such sureties as said board may re- 
quire ; conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office. In 
case such bond shall not be given within ten days after receiving such notice, 
such office shall thereby become vacated, and said board of education shall 
thereupon make an appointment to sujoply such vacancy. 

§ 7 Notices for annual elections, and all other meetings of said districts, 
ehall be given by said board of education, at least ten days before such elec- 
tion or meeting, by publishing such notice once in each of the newspapers 
printed in the village of Lockport ; and if such notice be for an election or 
meeting of said union district, by posting the same on the door of the school- 
house in each primary district ; if such notice be for an election or meeting of 
any primary district, then by posting such notice on the door of the school- 
house in such district. 

§ 8. In case of a vacancy of any office mentioned in this act, occasioned by 
the death of such officer, his refusal to serve, removal out of the district for 
which he shall have been elected or appointed, his incapacity, or any cause 
other than the expiration of the term of office of persons elected, said board 



307 

t>f education may make an appointment to fill such vacancy. The officer bo 
appointed, shall hold his office for the unexpired term of the person, to supply 
whose place he shall be so appointed. 

§ 9. Said board of education shall be a corporate body in relation to all 
the powers and duties conferred upon them by virtue of the provisions of this 
act; a majority of the board shall form a quorum. 

§ 10. Said board of education shall possess all the powers and be subject 
to all the duties in respect to all of said school districts that the trustees of 
common schools now possess or are subject to ; and such other powers and du- 
ties as are given or imposed by tliis act. The clerk, collector and librarian of 
said union district, shall possess all the powers, and be subject to all the du- 
ties in respect to said union district, that like officers of common schools now 
posses.s or are subject to, and such other powers aud duties as arc is^iven or 
imposed by this act. The offices of collector and librarian, and two of the trus- 
tees of each of the school districts hereby consolidated, shall be abolished from 
and after the time when said union school shall go into operation. In the mean 
time, such officers, and the several districts in district meetings, shall continue 
to discharge such ordinary powers and duties as said board of education may 
by resolution prescribe ; but they shall not possess or exercise any right or 
power which may conflict with the provisions of this act, or impair tlic powers 
hereby intended to be conferred on said b(^ard of education, or in any way em- 
barass the said board of education in the exercise of the powers, or in the dis- 
charge of the duties conferred or imposed upon said board, by the provisionn 
•of this act. 

§ 11. Said board of education, shall, at its first meeting, and annually 
thereafter, at their meeting held next after the first of January, in each year, 
appoint one of their number president and another secretary. In the absence 
of either of such officers at any regular meeting of the board, a president or 
secretary may be appointed for the time being. 

§ 12. The secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of said board 
of education, whicli record, or a transcript therefrom, certified by tlie president 
and .secretary, shall be received in all courts as presumptive evidence of tbs 
facts therein set forth. 

^ 13. Each member of said board of education, and every other officer of 
said union district, before entering upon the duties of Iiis office, shall take and 
Bubscribe the oath of office prescribed by the constitution of this state, and file 
the same with the secretary of said board. 

§ 14. Said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their 
duty, 

.1. To establish and organize so many primary schools as they shall deem 
requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same ; 

2. To puich.ise or hire school houses, rooms, lots or site-) for school houses, 
and to fence and improve them a.s tliey may think proper; 

3. Upon such lota or sites, and upon any lot or site now owned by any pri- 
mary district, to build, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school houses, out 
houses and appurtenances as they may deern advisable ; 

4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, fur- 
niture and appendaifes, to provide fuel for the schools, and defray their contin- 
gent expense-^, and the expenses of the library and salary of the librarian ; 

5. To have the ca-itody and safe keeping of the school house?, out houses, 
apparatus, books, furniture and appendages, and see that the ordinances and 
by-laws of said board, in relation thereto, be observed ; 

6. To CO itract wilh and employ all teachers, in all the schools under their 
«harge. and at their pleasure to remove them ; 

7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the public money, and tuition 
fees to bci received by them according to the provisions of this act, so far a« 
the saniii .shall be sufficient, and the deficiency, if any, out of the moneys to be 
raised for general piirposea of education, under and vhtue of the provisions of 
this act; 



308 

8. To fix the rate of tuition fees in said union school, subject to the limita- 
tions and restrictions hereinafter contained, and to designate some person or per- 
sons to whom the same may be paid previous to issuing the warrant for the 
collection thereof 5 and by a resolution of said board, to be recorded by the 
secretary, to exempt from the payment of the whole or any part of the tuition 
fees, such persons as they may deem entitled to such exemption, from indi- 
gence, or any other sufficient cause ; 

9. After the close of each quarter of said union school, to make out a rate-bill, 
containino- the name of each person liable to pay tuition fees for tuition in said 
union school, who shall not have paid the same prior to making out such rate-bill, 
according to the provisions of the last preceding sub-division of this section, and 
the amount for which such person is liable, adding thereto a sum not 
exceedino- five cents on each dollar for collector's fees, (which fe«s shall be fixed 
by said board, at the time of making out every rate-bill,) to annex thereto a 
warrant for the collection thereof, to be signed by the president of said board 
or a majority of the members thereof, and deliver the same to the collector, who 
shall collect the same in the same manner as collectors of school districts are 
by law authorized and required to execute like warrants issued by the trustees 
of common school districts ; and who, in the execution of the same, shall be 
under the same protection, possess all the powers, and be subject to all the du- 
ties as such collectors now have, possess, and are subject to in respect to like 
warrants • and for this purpose, the jurisdiction of said board of education, 
and of said collector, shall extend to any other district or town, and to any resi- 
dent of such other district or town, who may be liable for tuition in said union 
school, in the same manner and with the like authority, as to said union dis- 
trict or residents of said union district ; 

10. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, management 
and control of all the schools mentioned or contemplated in, and by the pro- 
visions of this act ; to prescribe the course of studies therein, the books to 
be used and establish an uniformity in respect to such course of studies and 
books ; from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they deem 
expedient, rules, regulations and ordinances, for the organization, government 
and instructions of such schools, for the reception of pupils and their transfer 
from one school to another ; for the promotion of their good order, prosperity 
and public utility ; for the protection, safe keeping, care and preservation 
of school houses, lots, sites and appurtenances, and all other property connec- 
ted with or appertaining to such schools ; ^ -, ■, j. , , 

11. To cause such rules, regulations, ordinances and by-laws to be pub- 
lished in such manner and form, as they may deem best calculated to give 
general information ; to cause one copy thereof, together with a copy of this 
act to be kept in each of said schools, and such parts thereof as relate to 
such schools respectively, to be read therein, at least once during each 

12. Said board of education shall in all respects be subject to the visita- 
tion and control of the superintendents of common schools of the town, coun- 
ty and state in the same manner as the common schools in this state are 

§ 15. Said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their 
duty to raise from to time, by tax upon the real and personal estate within 
the bounds of said union district which shall be liable to taxation for the 
ordinary taxes of said village, or for town or county charges, such sums as may 
be determined by resolution of said board, to be necessary for any and all 
the purposes mentioned in the last preceding section, or to meet any deficiency 
arisino' from any cause connected with the subject of education m said village, 
to provide for which, power shall be given to said beard by the provisions 
of this act the laws relating to common schools, or the rules and regulations 
of the superintendent of common schools. "Whenever any sum of money 
shall be needed by any primary district, for any of the objects m this or the 
last preceding section mentioned, except for teachers' wages, said board of 
education shall cause such amount to be assessed, levied and collected from 



300 

the property of such district by the same warrant, in addition to, and in 
connection with the tax next to be raised for the general purposes of educa- 
tion, under and by virtue of the provisions of this act ; making therefor a 
separate column in said tax list. The treasurer shall keep a separate account 
of all moneys so raised for such primary district, and said board of education 
shall, by orders on such specific fund, draw out such moneys only for such 
objects, and in favor of such primary district. 

Said board of education shall, at the commencement of each year, make an 
estunate by the best means in their power, of the amount of money which 
will be needed for all the purposes of education, and other purposes pro- 
vided for by this act, over and above the moneys to be received from the 
town superintendent, and from tuition fees, and shall cause the same to be 
raised by one assessment and warrant ; and not more than two taxes for 
such purposes, shall ever be raised in one year. 

The amount of money so to be raised in any one year, after the first year, 
shall not be less than the amount received in behalf of all said districts, from 
the town superintendent, for the year next preceding ; nor more than four 
times that amount, unless such greater amount shall be authorized by a vote 
of the taxable inhabitants of said union district, at a regular meeting of such 
district. 

§ 16. Said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, 
forthwith to purchase a suitable lot, so situated as best to convene the whole 
of said union district, not to exceed, in cost, the sum of twenty-five hundred 
dollars, and procure a clear title thereof, to be vested, by deed, in said board 
of education ; to cause said lot to be graded, fenced, and otherwise properly 
improved ; to erect thereon a suitable and proper building or buildings, to be 
built of stone or brick, not to exceed in expense, the sum of eight thousand 
dollars, nor to cost less than five thousand dollars ; furnish the same with all 
proper, useful and necessary furniture, apparatus and appendages ; as soon 
as the building is in proper condition, employ a sufficient number of well 
qualified teachers, male and female, and cause a school to be commenced 
therein, to be called " The Lockport Union School," in which shall be taught 
only the higher branches of education. 

The tuition fee in said union school, shall not exceed two dollars each, per 
quarter, for pupils whose parents or guardians reside within the territory of 
said union district ; for all other pupils, said tuition fee shall not be less than 
two dollars, nor more than five dollars per quarter. No tuition fee shall 
thereafter be charged, nor any rate bill be made for tuition in the primary 
schools, but the same shall be free schools. 

§ 17. Said board of education shall, as soon as practicable make an esti- 
mate of the amount of money, which, in their opinion, will be necessary for 
the purposes in the last section specified, and also for such purposes specified 
in section fourteen, of this act, as may be needed or required for the first 
year, and shall forthwith assess, levy and collect the same, by tax upon real 
and personal estate, as specified in section fifteen of this act. They shall, 
for this and all other taxes to be raised by them, make out a tax list, in the 
manner and form in which like tax lists are now made by trustees of school 
districts, so far as such form is applicable, annex thereto, a warrant in like 
form, signed by the president or a majority of the members of said board, 
and deliver the same to the collector ; which, when so made and signed, shall 
be as effectual to all intents and purposes, as like tax lists and warrants, 
when made by the trustees of common school districts. Said board may, in 
respect to the collection of all taxes, conform to the provisions of the twenty- 
ninth, thirtieth and thirty -first sections of the one hundred and eightieth chap- 
ter of the Session Laws of one thousand eight hundred and forty-five, and 
require the collector to comply with the provisions of said sections, so far as 
the same are applicable. Said board may so far vary from the provisions of 
said sections, as to time and places, as to render them applicable, and may 
make such warrants returnable at sixty or ninety days, in their discretion, 
instead of thirty days, as now required by law, in respect to sueh warrants 



310 

made by trustees of common school districts ; but all property now exempt,, 
by section twenty -two, title five, chapter six, part third of the Revised Statutes^ 
from execution shall be exempt from all such warrants. 

§ 18. All moneys to be raised by virtue of this act, and all moneys by law, 
appropriated to, or provided for said districts, shall be paid to the treasurer 
of said board, avIio together with the sureties upon his official bond,' shall be 
accountable tlierefor, to said board of education. Said treasurer shall not pay 
out any of such moneys, except by resolution of said board, and upon an order 
drawn by the president and certified by the secretary, to be so drawn in 
pursuance of such resolution. 

§ 19. Said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business, 
aa often as once in each month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special 
meetings may be called by the president, or in his absence or inability to act, 
by the secretary or any other member of the board, as often as necessaiy, by 
giving personal notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or 
printed notice to be left at his last place of residence, at least twenty-four 
hours before the hour of meeting. No meraber of said board shall receive 
any pay or compensation for his services. It shall not be lawful for any 
member of said board, or any other officer of either of said districts, to become 
a contractor for biiilding or making any improvement or repairs authorized 
by this act, or be in any manner, directly or indirectly, interested, either as 
principal, partner or surety in any such contract. All contracts, made in vio- 
lation of this provision, shall be absolutely void, and the person so violating, 
shall forfeit the sum of fifty dollars ; to be prosecuted for, and recovered by 
aaid board. 

§ 20. Instead of the report now required by law to be made by trustees 
of school districts, to the town superintendent of common schools, the trus- 
tee so to be elected for each primary district, shall, within the time now re- 
quired by law, make such report to said board of education, and shall therein 
embrace such other and further matters as may be required and prescribed by 
said board, or as such trustee may think the interests of such primai-y dis- 
trict or school may require. Said board of education shall, annually, be- 
tween the first of January and the first of March, in each year, make to the 
town superintendent of common schools, a report, containing all such matters 
relating, as well to said Union district and Union school, as to said primary 
districts and their schools, as is now, or shall hereafter be required by law, or 
the regulations of the superintendent of common schools, to be reported to 
said town superintendent, and such other and further matters as they may 
deem advisable. Such report shall be received by said town superintendent, 
instead of the reports now required from each, of said seven districts. A 
copy of such report shall be filed with the secretary of said board. 

§ 21. Said board of education shall, from time to time, appoint such, and 
80 many members of their board, as they may deem proper, not less than 
three in number, a visiting committee ; whose duty it shall be to visit said 
union school, and each of said primary schools, as often as once in each quar- 
ter ; and make a report in writing to said board, showing the state and con- 
dition of each school, school-house, apparatus and appendages, and such 
other matters as said board may require of them, and such suggestions for 
the improvement of the same, as they may deem proper and advisable ; such 
reports shall be filed and kept among the papers of said board. Such board 
may in their discretion, cause such reports, or any parts of the same, or the 
substance tliereof and any and all other matters relating to said schools, to 
be published in such form as they may deem advisable. They shall, at the 
close of each year, publish in one or more of the village newspapers, a report 
of the moneys received and expended by them, during the year, and such 
other matters as they deem advisable. 

§ 22. Whenever, in the opinion of said board, the interests of any primary 
district, require the sale or exchange of the school lot therein, said board 
may cause such sale or exchange to be made, and hold the proceeds thereof 
for the use and benefit of such primaiy diatrici 



311 

§ 23. llie title of school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, hooks, apparatus 
and appurtenances, and all other ncliotd property in this act mentioned, shall 
he vested in said boarii of education ; and the same, while used for, or ap- 
propriated to school purposc>i, shall be exempt from all taxes and assessments, 
and shall not be liable to be levied upon, or sold by virtue of any warrant 
or execution. Said board of education, in their corporate capacity, shall be 
able to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate, transferred to 
it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, for the use of said schools, or any or 
either of them. Provided, however, that said board shall not have power to 
eell, grant, dispose of or incumber, said union school lot. 

§ 24. Every officer in this act mentioned, having at the time, the pos- 
session, custody, care, charge or control, of any property belonging to said 
schools, or any or either of them, or any money raised by the provisions of 
act, or provided by law for the purposes of education in said village, shall, 
at the expiration of his term, or whenever such officer shall resign, bo remov- 
ed from office, cease to act, or his office be otherwise vacated, transfer all 
such property, and pay over all such money to the board of education. 

§25. ICvery resignation of ofticers appointed or elected under this act, 
shall be made to the board of education, and such resignation shall have no 
force or effect, luir in any degree excuse such officer from the discharge of 
his duties, until the same be accepted and approved by a resolution of said 
board. 

§ 26. Any such officer may be removed from office for any official mis- 
conduct or neglect of official duty, by resolution of said board ; two thirds 
of the members thereof concurring. Opportunity shall be given to every 
such officer to be heard in his defence, before any such resolution shall be 
adopted. 

§27. Every person appointed or elected to any office mentioned in this 
act, who, without sufficient cause, shall refuse to serve therein, shall forfeit 
the sum of ten dollars ; and every person so appointed or elected, and not 
having refused to accept, who shall neglect to discharge the duties of such 
office, shall forfeit the sum of twenty dollars to sai I board of education. 
It shall be the duty of said board of education, forthwith, to prosecute for 
all forfeitures and penalties under this act, and when recovered, to apply 
the same to the purposes of education in said village. All officers mention- 
ed in this act, shall be deemed public officers, within the intent and mean- 
ing of section thirty eight, of title six, of chapter one, part four of the Revised 
Statutes ; and as such, liable to the penalty therein prescribed, in addition to 
the penalty in this section before provided. 

§ 28. The several libraries of the said seven districts are hereby consolida- 
ted into one. Said board of education shall cause a suitable and proper 
room to be fitted up in said union school building, and furnished with nec- 
essary and suitable fixtures, furniture, apparatus and appendages, and 
transfer said library thereto, and put it under the charge of a librarian. They 
shall annually allow and pay to said librarian, such salary as in their opinion, 
shall be a fair and reasonable compensation for his services, but not to exceed 
the sum of fifty dollars in any one year. They .shall pass such by-laws for 
the regulation and preservation of said library, and for the discharge of the 
duties of the librarian, as they may think necessary. The library money 
hereafter to be received in behalf of said districts, shall be paid by the town 
superintendent to the treasurer of said board. Said board shall expend such 
money entirely for the purchase of books and maps for the library. 

§ 29. Lands of resi(lents and non-residents of said districts may be sold 
by said board, for uncollected taxes assessed thereon for school purposes, by 
virtue of the provisions of this act, in the same manner, and by like proceed- 
ings as the trustees of said village adopt to sell lands for unpaid taxes asses- 
sed for village purposes, and such sales shall have the like effect as sales so 
made by the trustees of said village ; or the lands of residents and non-resi- 
dents of said districts, said board may cause to be returned to the county 
treasurer, in the same manner as trustees of common school districts are noiT 



312 

authorized by law to return unoccupied and unimproved real estate of non- 
residents of their districts, for unpaid taxes assessed thereon. Said county 
treasurer shall pay to said board the amount of such taxes, out of any moneys 
in the county treasury raised for contingent expenses, and such proceedings 
in all respects, shall thereafter be had by said county treasurer, and the 
board of supervisors of the county of Niagara in relation to all lands so 
returned, as they are by law required to take in respect to unoccupied and 
unimproved lands of non-residents, when so returned by trustees of common 
school districts. But no lands shall be so sold or returned, until a reasonable 
effort shall have been made to collect such taxes by warrant, as provided in 
section seventeen of this act, and the collector shall have returned that he 
cannot collect the same. 

§ 30. Said board of education may cause a school for colored childi'en to 
be taught in said village, and include the expenses thereof in the amount so 
to be raised annually by tax, for contingent expenses and other purposes of 
education provided for in this act. 

§ 31. Said board of education may organize in said union school, a de- 
partment for the instruction of teachers, for such parts of the year, and under 
such rules and regulations, as they may by their by-laws adopt relative 
thereto. 

§ 32. Said board of education, may at any time hereafter, whenever in 
their opinion the wants and interests of said schools shall require it, establish 
a class of so many schools intermediate said primary and union schools as 
they may deem advisable, to be called secondary schools, and for this pur- 
pose consolidate such and so many of said primary districts, as they may 
deem advisable, prescribe the tuition fees and course of studies therein, and 
so arrange and regulate the system of instruction in all of said schools, that 
the transfer of pupils shall thereafter be from the primary, directly into the 
secondary, and thence into the union school. And for this purpose, and for 
the organization, government and regulation of said secondary schools, said 
boai-d shall have all such powers as are hereinbefore conferred upon them, 
in respect to said primary and union schools and their districts and property 

[Chap. 11, Laws of 1850.] 

§1. The provisions of the act entitled " An Act in relation to Common 
Schools in the village of Lockport," passed March 31, 184*7, are not and shall 
not be deemed or adjudged to be or to have been affected, altered or im- 
paired by the act entitled "An act establishing Free Schools throughout the 
State," passed March 26, 1849. 

§ 2. " The board of education for the village of Lockport" is hereby 
authorized to increase the rates of tuition fees in the Union School under its 
charge, and to graduate the same acpording to the branches of instruction 
pursued. 

§ 3. Said board of education is hereby authorized to appoint a superin- 
tendent of the schools under its charge, with such powers and duties and 
compensation as said board shall prescribe. 

§ 4. From and after the first day of April next, so long as the common 
schools of this state shall be free, the said board of education shall cause each 
of the secondary schools under its charge to be taught by a competent male 
teacher, or a male and female teachers, and the usual common school studies 
shall be free ; but for the time prior to the said first day of April next, said 
board may collect tuition fees for instruction therein, as well as in the Uuion 
school, as they have heretofore done ; and such studies shall be taught in 
said Union school as said board may prescribe. 

§ 5. Said board shall not raise by tax upon the property in the Union 
school district, any money for the salaries of teachers in the Union school 
district, which shall accrue after the first day of April next. 

§ 6. The acts and doings of said board of education, in accordance with 
the provisions of their act of incorporation, since the act entitled " An act 
estabUshing free schools throughout the state," passed March 26, 1849, took 
effect are hereby ratified and confirmed. 



313 

§ 1. The public money which shall be apportioned to the districts includ- 
ed in the said Union school district, shall be paid to said board, and be ap- 
plied by them to teachers' wages in the several schools in their charge in 
said district, in proportion to the average number of scholars pursuing com- 
mon school studies in each of said schools. The annual report of receipts 
and expenditures required to be published by said board, snail specify all 
sums received, and from whom, and all persons to whom payments were 
made, and the general character of the demands paid. 

Upon the application of said board ot education to "the Regents of the 
University of the State of New York," said regents may acknowledge and 
declare said Union school to be an academy ; and it shall thereafter.be an 
academy, subject to, and to be governed by, the provisions of the act author- 
izing said Union school, and subject to such rules and regulations as said 
regents mayprescribe. 

MEDINA. 

[Laws of 1849. Chap. 286, as amended hy Chap. 381 Laws o/1850.] 
AN ACT in relation to common schools in the village of Medina 

Passed April 9, 1849, "three-fifths being present." 

The People of the Stale of New- York ^ represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : . 

§ 1. There shall hereafter be elected in school district number twelve, 
formed partly out of the town of Ridgeway and partly out of the town of 
Shelby, in the county of Orleans, and lying principally within the village 
of Medina, in the manner now provided by law, three trustees, who shall, 
respectively, hold their offices three years, Christopher Whaley, Silas M. 
Burroughs, John Ryan, Daniel Starr, Isaac W. Swan and Archibald Servoss, 
are hereby appointed trustees of said district, and shall, respectively, hold 
said office a» follows, namely : the term of office of Christopher Whaley and 
Silas M. Burroughs shall expire at the same time that the term of office of 
Roswell Starr, as trustee of said district, shall expire. The term of office of 
John Ryan and Daniel Starr shall expire at the same time that the term of 
office of Isaac K. Burroughs, as trustee of said district, shall expire ; and the 
term of office of Isaac W. Swan and Archibald Servoss shall expire at the 
same time that the term of office of Nathan Bancroft, as trustee of said dis- 
trict shall expire. 

§ 2. The trustees of said district and their successors in office shall con- 
stitute a board of education for said district and for the purposes of this act 
in addition to the present powers and duties of trustees, are hereby constitut- 
ed a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of "The board of edu- 
cation of the village of Medina," and said corporation shall have power to 
establish and organize a classical school in said village to be known by the 
name of "The Medina Academy," and such classical school shall be subject to 
all laws and regulations applicable to other incorporated academies of this 
state and shall be entitled to share in the distribution of the monies of the 
literature fund upon the same terms as other academies of this state ; and the 
regents of the university shall recognize said academy as such as soon as the 
required sum of money shall be expended in buildings, and competent 
teachers employed therein. 

§ 3. Said board of education shall appoint one of their number president 
of said board, who shall preside at the meetings of said board when present; 
when absent a president pro tempore shall be appointed in his stead. They 
shall also appoint one of their number secretary, who shall record all the acts 
doings and resolutions of said board ; and in the absence of the secretary a 
secretary pro tempore shall be appointed to discharge such duties. They 
shall also appoint a collector, librarian, and treasurer of said district who shall 



314 

respectively, hold their offices one year from their appointment, and until 
others are appointed in their places, unless sooner removed by said board; 
such collector, librarian and treasurer shall each, within ten days after notice 
of their appointment, in writing, and before entering upon the duties of their 
office, execute and deli%'er to said board of education a bond, in such penalty 
and with such sureties as said board may require, conditidned for the faithful 
discharge of the duties of his office. In case such bond shall not be given with- 
in ten days after receiving such natice, such office shall thereby become va- 
cated, and said board of education shall thereupon make an appointment to 
supply such vacancy. 

§ 4, The said board of education shall have power to fill any vacancy 
which may happen, by reason of the death or removal from the said district of 
any member of said board, and the officer so appointed shall hold his office 
for the unexphed time of the person to supply whose place he shall be so ap- 
pointed. 

§ 5. Said board of education shall possess all the powers, and be subject 
to all the duties in respect to said district, that the trustees of common 
schools now possess or are subject to, and such other powers and duties as 
are given or imposed by this act. 

§ 6. The taxable inhabitants, of said district, at my annual, special or ad- 
j ourned meeting legally held, may vote to raise such sum of money as they 
shall deem expedient for the purpose of purchasing a site and building a 
school house in said district, or for the purpose of purchasing any suitable 
building for such purpose, and direct the trustees to cause the same to be 
levied and raised by instalments, and make out a tax for the collection of 
the same as often as such instalments shall become due ; and the legal voters 
at any such meeting are authorised to iix the compensation for collecting 
and paying over to the said board of education the amount so levied. 

§ 7. The inhabitants of said district shall have no power to rescind the 
vote to raise such sum of money, at any subsequent meeting, unless the same 
be done within ten days thereafter ; nor shall they have power to reduce the 
amount of the same after the expiration of ten days from the time the tax 
was first levied, but may remit such sum as shall remain unappropriated after 
paying for the site and erection of the house or purchase of suitable build- 
ing- 

§ 8. The said board of education are hereby authorised to obtain by loan 
the whole or any part of the money legally voted by said district, and secure 
the payment of the same by their official bond. 

§ 9. The Comptroller of this state is hereby authorised and directed to 
loan to the said board of education, such sum as the said board of education 
shall certify to said comptroller to have been voted by the inhabitants of 
said district, in pursuance of this act, not exceeding the sum of five thousand 
dollars, out of the moneys in the treasury belonging to the capital of the com- 
mon School fund, and for the purpose of purchasing a site, and erecting or 
purchasing a suitable building for a school house in said district ; and the 
money when loaned shall be charged upon the books of the comptroller to 
said district and the same shall be paid over to said board of education, to 
be applied by them for the purpose of pm-chasing a site and erecting or 
purchasing a school house for said district. 

§ 10. The sum so loaned shall be paid to the comptroller of this state, in 
annual instalments thereafter as determined by the vote of said district 
raising such sum of money, with annual interest thereon. 

§ U. The said board of education are hereby authorised, and empowered 
to sell at public auction to the highest bidder, the school house and site 
thereof belonging to said district, by giving public notice to be posted in ten 
public places in said district, ten days previous to such sale, and apply the 
proceeds arising from such sale, towards purchasing a site and erecting a 
school house in said district, or to such other purpose, as said district shall 
direct; such sale may be made upon such terms of credit, as said board of 
education shall determine upon, and a bond and mortgage taken by said 



315 

board for thp •whole or any part of the purchase money, or price for which 
said site ani! h )use may be sold and such bond and mcrfgage may be sold and 
assigned by uaid board at par, for money to be applied by them as herein 
provided. 

§ 12 Tiie said board of education, are hereby authorised and empowered 
to make such by-laws and regulations, as they may deem necessary to secure 
the prusprrlty, order and government of said school, and divide (he same into 
primary and higher departments, and regulate tlie transfer of scholars fi'om 
one department to the other, and provide suitable instructors for eacli depart- 
ment, direct wliat text books shall be used in the same, purchase fuel and 
other necessaries for the use of the school or schools in said district, and 
all contracts made by them in their otRcial capacity, shall be binding upon 
them and their successors in office : to fix and regulate the terms uf tuition 
fees in said primary and other higher branches in said school or schools, to 
sue for and collect in their corporate name, any sum of money due to said 
district : to receive and apply to the uses of said school or schools, or any 
department thereof, any gift, legacy, bequest or annuities, given or bequeath- 
ed to said board and apply the same, according to the instructidu of the 
donor or testator to take and hold any real estate given or bequeathed to 
said board for the purposes of said school or schools, or any department 
thereof, and apply the same, or the interests or proceeds thereof according 
to the terms and instructions of the donor or testator : to have in'all respects 
the superintendence, supervision, management and control of said school or 
schools, or any department thereof, and to hire, pay and discharge any teach- 
er or teachers, employed by them in said school or department there- 
of. 

§ 13. Said board of education shall in all respects be subject to the re- 
strictions and control of the superintendents of common schools, of the 
town, county and state, in the same manner as the common schools in this 
state are subject. 

§ 14. Said board of education shall have power and are hereby authoris- 
ed to receive into said academy, and cause to be instructed therein any 
i)upil or pupils residing in or out of said district, and to regulate and estab- 
ish the terms of tuition fees of such resident or non-resident pupils ; and 
said board of education shall have power to regulate the tuition fees and 
rates of charges for instruction in the higher English and classical depart- 
ments of said academy, and shall have power to make such application of the 
money raised for the support of common schools in said district for the 
payment of teacher's wages as said board shall determine, and may divide 
and apportion the same in such manner as said board shall deem best to pay 
the salaries of teachers employed in said academy, or the elementary Eng- 
lish schools connected therewith or maintained in said district under their 
supervision. The rates of tuition in the elementary English branches in the 
schools maintained in said district, shall be subject to the general laws relat- 
ing to common schools, and after applying such portion of the money receiv- 
ed in said district as said board shall determine towards the support of such 
elementary English departments, such sum, not to be less than one half of all 
the moneys received in said district for the support of common schools 
therein, the additional sum required to pay teacher's wages and provide fuel 
and other contingent expenses necessary to the support of such elementary 
schools, shall be estimated, assessed, collected and applied in the 
manner provided in chapter one hundred and forty and four hundred and 
foiu' of the session laws of eighteen hundred and forty-nine, or in such other 
manner as shall be hereafter provided by law for the support of common 
schools. 

§ 15. All moneys raised in said district for the purposes of said school, 
and all moneys to be received by such district from the common school 
fund or other source, shall be anually paid to the said board of education, and 
be appUed by them for the uses of said school or schools according to law. 



§ 16. The members of said board of education, before receiving any 

moneys belonging to said district, shall severally execute to the towu super- 
intendent of common schools of th* town of Ridgeway, their separate bonds 
with two sufficient sureties to be approved by said town superintendent, in a 
penalty at least double the amount to be expended by them, for the benefit of 
said school during the next ensuing year, conditioned that such trustee giving 
such bond, will faithfully account for the expenditure of all moneys, he shall 
receive for said district, and pay over the balance remaining in his hands at 
the time of the expiration of his office to the other trustees, and the district at 
any legal meeting thereof, may require the penalty of such bond to be increas- 
ed, or additional security to he given by either or all the trustees, if they 
shall deem the same insufficient, and any trustee, treasurer of said district, or 
member of said board, who shall apply any moneys belonging to said dis- 
trict to his own use shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement. 
§ 17. This act shall take effect immediately. 

LODI AND OWE GO. 

[Laws of 1846, Chap. 207.] 

§ 1. The trustees of school district number one, formed from the towns of 
Persia and Perrysburgh, in the county of Cattaraugus, and the town of Col- 
lins, in the county of Erie, known as the " Lodi Union School District," are 
hereby authorized, if the inhabitants of said district shall, at any regular 
school district meeting so direct, to make thereafter, and until the said in- 
habitants shall in like manner otherwise direct, separate and distinct rate- 
bills, for the payment of the wages of the teachers in the primary and in 
the higher departments of the school kept in the said district ; provided 
that the manner in which such rate -bills shall be made, shall have been de- 
termined by such regular school district meeting aforesaid. 

§ 2. The provisions of the preceding section of this act shall also apply 
to school district number one, in the village of Owego, in the county of 
Tioga, so far as the same shall be applicable to said district. 

NEWTOWN. 

[Laws of 1850. Chapter 60.] 

AN ACT to establish a free school in district number three in the town of 
Newtown. ; 

Passed^March 16, 1850, "three-fifths being present." 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate aiid Assem- 
bly, do enact as follows : 

§ 1 . School district number three in the town of Newtown, in the county 
of Queens, shall form a permanent school district, and shall not be subject to 
alteration by the town superintendent of common schools for the town in 
which said district is situated. 

§ 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled 
" The Board of Education," which board shall consist of five members, three 
or more of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. 
John B. Reboul, Daniel R. Remsen, Roe H. Smith, Nathaniel Filbey and Al- 
bert 0. Wittemore shall compose the first board of education, and shall 
hold their office from one to five years, that is to say, one shall go out of of- 
fice in each year, and in the order in which their tiames stand recorded in 
this section. 

§ 3. At the annual meeting of said district in each year, there shall be 
elected, for five years, one member of said board of education., who shall be 



317 

a resident and taxable inhabitant of said district. Said election, and all oth- 
er elections provided for by this act, shall be held by three inspectors, who 
shall be appointed by the board of education at least thirty days preceding 
such election, and shall be by ballot, and conducted in the same manner as 
the annual election of village officers. 

§ 4. The said board of education may make all necessary by-laws for 
their government ; they shall have the entire control and management of all 
the common schools within the said district, and all the property belonging 
to the same ; and they shall have and possess within the said district all the 
rights, powers and authority of town superintendent of common schools, and 
they shall provide for keeping a school in said district at least six months in 
each year, and as much longer as may be practicable. They may appoint a 
collector, with all the powers and duties of a district collector, or may em- 
ploy the town or village collector for that purpose ; and such collector shall 
collect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district, to the 
treasurer of the board of education, in the same manner and under the same 
conditions as is imposed by the laws of the town or village of which he is 
such collector. They shall require two of the members of said board to vis- 
it each school in said district at least once in each week, to render such as- 
sistance to the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and to 
see that the regulations are rigidly adhered to. 

§ 5. The sa,id board of education are hereby authorized and empowered 
to raise a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, by tax on said district, to 
be levied and collected in the same manner as taxes are authorized by law to 
be levied and collected in the towns of this state. 

§ 6 The said board of education are hereby authorized and directed to 
levy and collect by tax, in each year, upon all the taxable property and in- 
habitants, such sum as may be necessary, not exceeding in amount one-fifth 
of one per cent, on the value of such taxable property, as the same shall be 
assessed by the assessors of the town of Newtown ; and the said board shall 
add to their warrant for collection of such taxes, such amount as they may 
deem proper for fees for collection, not exceeding five per cent on the 
amount. 

§ 7. The town superintendent of common schools of the town of New- 
town shall pay over to the treasurer of the board of education all the public 
moneys to which said district number three shall be entitled, for school pm-- 
poses. 

§ 8. The said board of education shall call an annual district meetins: at 
such time in the year as they may think proper, and submit thereto a full 
report iuAvriting of their doings as such board ; and shall state therein the 
number arid condition of the schools in said district, under their charge, and 
the number of scholars attending the same ; the studies pursued ; the amount 
of moneys received from the state, as well as the amount raised in the dis- 
trict for school purposes, and the expenditure of the same, and generally all 
the particulars relating to the schools in said district ; which report may, if 
the said board think proper, be published in pamphlet form, or in some news 
paper published in the county. 

§ 9. The board of education shall have entire control and charge of the 
district librarj"^ ; they may emjjloy a librarian, make such additions to the 
library and such regulations in relation thereto, as they may deem neeessaiy 
or proper. 

§ 10. A. school for colored childi'en may be organized as a district 
school, and be supported as the other schools in said district are under this 
act. 

§ 11. Whenever the said board of education shall deem it necessary to 
erect one or more school-houses in said district, they shall submit the plan* 
and estimated cost of such building to the electors of such district, at a spe- 
cial meeting called for that purpose, and if a majority of such electors pres- 
ent shall vote in favor of the same, the said board may proceed to erect said 



gchool-house or houses ; and if the sums authorized to be raised by sections 
five and six of this act shall be insufEcient to pay the cost of such building, 
then the said board may raise an additional sum not exceeding five hundred 
dollars, to be levied and collected as provided for in sections five and six of 
this act, to be expended in defraying such cost. 

§ 12. The said board of education may call special meetings of said dis- 
ti-ict "whenever they may deem it necessaiy ; and whenever a special meeting 
shall be called, notices of it shall be posted up in five public places in said 
district, at least one week previous to said meeting ; and no business shall 
be transacted at such meetings except that stated in the notice calling the 
same. 

§ 13. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby 
repealed, so far as they relate to district number three in the town of New - 
town, county of Queens. 

§ 14. This act shall take effect immediately. 

[Latos of 1851, Chap. 398.] 

AN ACT to amend an act entitled, " An act to establish a free school in 
district number three iti the town of Ifewtown," passed March 16, 1850 

Passed July 8, 1851, "three-fifths being present." 

The People of the State of Hew- York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

§ 1. The fifth section of the act entitled " An act to establish a free school 
in district number thi-ee, in the town of Newtown," passed Maixh 16, 1850, i» 
hereby amended so as to read as follows : 

§ 5. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered 
to raise a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, by tax on said district, to 
be levied and collected in the same manner as taxes are authorized by law 
to be levied and collected in the towns of this state ; and said board of ed- 
ucation are also hereby authorized and empowered to raise the sum of three 
thousand and five hundred dollars by a loan, which sums are to be expended 
in the erection of a school-house in said district and furniture for the same ; 
such loan to be secured by a bond and a mortgage upon the public school 
property of said district, which bond and mortgage shall be executed by said 
board of education in their official capacity, under their hands and a com- 
mon seal to be provided by them. Said loan shall be paid off in annual in- 
stahnents of five hundred dollars each, and the first of said instalments shall 
be paid in three years after the date of said bond and mortgage. Said board 
is also authorized and empowered to raise such additional sum, from time to 
time, by tax on said district, to be levied and collected in the same manner 
as taxes are authorized by law to be levied' and collected in towns of this 
state, as may be necessary to pay the accruing interest on said loan and the 
said instalments thereof, and also such amount as they may deem proper for 
fees for collection, not exceeding five per cent, on the amount. 

§ 2. The said board of education are hereby authorized to sell and con- 
vey the lot of land in Astoria in said district, which has heretofore been oc- 
cupied as the school lot, and which is situated adjoining St. George Protest- 
ant Episcopal Church, and execute a conveyance therefor under their said 
corporate seal, and invest the proceeds of the sale in the purchase of another 
lot, or in the completion of said new school-house, as by the said board may 
be deemed most advisable for the interests of the said district. 

§ 3. The words " sections five and six,', wherever they occur in section 
eleven of the act hereby amended, shall be construed to mean section first of 
this act and section six of tlie act hereby amended. 

5j 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 



319 
CITY AND COUNTY OF NEW YORK. 

[Laws of 1851. Chap. 386.] 

AN ACT (o amend, consolidate and redxice to oiic act, the various acts 
relative to the Commo7i Schools of the city of New York. 

Passed July 3, 1851, "three-fifths being present." 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

OF SCHOOL OFFICERS AND THEIR ELECTION. 

§ 1 . Tliere shall be two commissioners, two inspectors and five trustees of 
«ommon schools in each of the wards of the cit}'^ of New-York, who shall be 
known as the " school olficers" of the ward. At eacli general election there 
shall be elected in each ward of said city, one commissioner and one inspect- 
or, whose terms of office shall he two years, and one trustee, whose term of 
office shall be five years, to commence in each case on the first day of Janu- 
ary next succeeding such election. But the terms of office of the school offi- 
cers elect, and those now holding office, except those whose terms of office 
will expire on the first Monday of June next, are hereby extended to the first 
day of January next after the day on which they would otherwise have ex- 
pired, respectively, and there shall be no election of school officers in 1852. 
The elections so held shall be subject to the same laws and regulations, in all 
respects, as those which govern the general elections in said cit^'. The bal- 
lota for said school officers shall be endorsed "common schools," and deposit- 
ed in a separate box to be provided therefor ; and the said school officers, 
before entering upon the duties of their offices, shall severally take and sub- 
scribe the oath prescribed by the constitution of the state. 

OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION ITS POWERS AND DUTIES. 

§ 2. The commissioners of common schools, elected as aforesaid, shall 
constitute a board of education for the city and county of New-York ; they 
shall meet on the second Wednesday of January in each year, for the pur- 
pose of organization; and thereafter for the transaction of business as often 
as they may determine. They shall elect one of their number pre^dent and 
shall appoint a clerk and assistant or assistants, whose compensation shall be 
fixed and paid by the board. 

The board of education shall have power : 

Ist. To take and hold property, both real and personal, devised or 
transferred to it, for the purposes of public education in the city of New 
York: 

2d. To appoint a superintendent of common schools for said city, as here- 
inafter provided : 

3d. On the nomination of the school officers of any ward to fill vacancies 
in school offices, which may occur in such ward between the general elec- 
tions : 

4th. To establish new schools, as hereinafter provided : 

5th. To draw from the moneys which shall be raised for the purposes of 
public education, such sums as may be required for the purpose of defraying 
the necessary incidental expenses of the board, and such further sums as 
maybe required fur the payment of the salaries of their clerk and assistant 
or a,3sistants, and of the city superintendent of common schools : 

6th. To visit and examine the schools, subject to the provisions of this 
act : 

•jth. To make rules of order and by-laws for the government of the board, 
its members and committees, and general regulations to secure proper econo- 
my and accountability in the expenditure of the school moneys : 



320 

8tL And, for the purposes of this act , the said board shall possess the 
powers and pVivileges of a corporation. 

§ 8. It shall be the duty of the board of education, 

1st. On or before the fifteenth day of November in each year, to report 
to the board of supervisors of the said city and county, an estimate of the 
amount over and above the sums specified in the iifteenth section of this act, 
which will be required during the year, for the purpose of meeting the cur- 
rent annual expenses of common school instruction ; for erecting, purchasing, 
leasing and procuring sites for school houses, and the fitting up and furnish- 
ing thereof, and the alterations in, the additions to, and repairs of, the scliool 
buildings of the ward schools ; for the support of schools which shall have 
been organized since the last annual apportionment of the school moneys 
made by the board ; for the support of evening schools, not exceeding the 
sum of fifteen thousand dollars in each year ; for the support of the free 
academy, an annual sum not exceeding twenty thousand dollars ; and such 
further sum or sums as may be necessary for any of the purposes authorized 
by this act ; but the aggregate amount so reported shall not exceed the sum 
of four dollars for each pupil who shall have actually attended and been 
taught in the preceding year in the schools entitled to participate in the ap- 
portionment : 

2d. To apportion all the school moneys -^vhich shall have been raised for 
the purposes of meeting the current annual expenses of public instruction, 
to each of the schools provided for by this act : 

3d. To file with the chamberlain of said city, on or before the first Mon- 
day of April in each year, a copy of their apportionment, statijig the amount 
apportioned to the ward schools, and to the trustees, managers and du'ectors 
of the several schools enumerated in this act : 

4th. To continue to furnish through tlie free academy, the benefit of edu- 
cation, gratuitously, to persons who have been pupils in the common schools 
of the said city and county for a period of time to be regulated by the board 
of education, not less than one year : 

5th. To supervise, manage and govern said freCxacademy, and, from time 
to time, make all needful rules and regulations therefor ; fix the number and 
compensation of teachers and others to be employed therein ; prescribe the 
preliminary examination, and the terms and conditions on which pupils shall 
be received and instructed therein and discharged therefrom ; direct the 
course of studies therein, and provide in all things for the good government 
and management of the said free academy ; and purchase the books, appar- 
atus, stationery and other things necessary and expedient to enable the said 
free academy to be properly and successfully conducted, and to keep the 
said building or buildings properly repaired and furnished : 

6th. To appoint annually a standing committee of not less than five per- 
sons of their number, who shall, subject to the control, supervision and ap- 
probation of the said board, constitute an executive committee for the care 
government and management of the said free academy, under the rules and' 
regulations prescribed as aforesaid, whose duty it shall be, to make detailed 
reports to the said board of education, and, among other things, to recom- 
mend the rules and regulations which they deem necessary and proper for 
the said academy. The board of education may, at any regular meeting 
thereof, by a majority of all the members of said board, remove any or all 
the members of the said committee, and appoint another person or per- 
sons in the place of the member or members of the said committee so re- 
moved. 

7th. To make and ti-ansmit annually on or before the first day of Febru- 
ary in each year, to the common council of said city, and also to the 
secretary to the board of regents of the university of the state of New- York 
a report signed by the president and clerk of the said board of education, 
and dated on the fii'st day of January, in the year of its transmission ; 
which report shall state the names and ages of all the pupils instructed in 
such free academy dui-ing the preceding year, and the time that each was 



321 

so instructed ; a particu'lar statement of the studies pursued by each pupil 
at the commeucement <>f his instruction, and of his subsequent studies im- 
til the date of such report, together with the books such student shall have 
studied in whole or in part, and if in part what portion ; an account or es- 
timate of the cost of the library, philosophical and chemical apparatus, and 
mathematical or other scientific instruments belonging to such academy ; 
the names of the instructors employed in said academy, and the corapensa- 
tion paid to each ; what amount of moneys the board of education received, 
dm'ing the year for the purposes of such academy, and from what sources, 
specif3Mng how much from each, and the particular manner, and the sjjecific 
purpose for which such moneys have been expended; and such other infor- 
mation in relation to education in said academy, and the measures of the 
board in the management thereof, as the said common council or the re- 
gents of the university of the state of Now -York may from time to time re- 
quire : 

8th. To provide evening schools for those whose ages or avocations are 
such as to prevent their attending the day schools established by law, in 
such of the ward school houses or other buildings used for school purposes, 
and in such other places in said city as they may, from time to time deem 
expedient : 

9th. To furnish all necessary supplies or make regulation, for furnishing 
such supplies for the several schools under their care, but when such sup- 
plies arc furnished by the board of education they shall be obtained by 
contract, proposals for which shall be advertised for the period of at least 
two weeks: 

llith. To make and transmit between the fifteenth day of Januaiy and 
the first day of February in each year, to the clerk of the city and county 
of New- York, a report in wi'iting, bearing date the first day of January in 
the year of its transmission, stating the whole number of schools within 
their jurisdiction, specially designating the schools for colored children ; 
the schools or societies from whichreports shall have been made to the board 
of education within the timelimited for that pui'pose, the length of time such 
schools shall have been kept open ; the araoimt of public money apportioned or 
appropriated to said schoolorsociety ; the number taught in each school, the 
whole amount of money drawn from the city chamberlain for the pm-poses of 
public education during the year ending at the date of their report, distinguish- 
ingthe amount received from the general ftmd of the state from all other and 
wiiat sources ;the manner ia which such moneys shall have been expended, 
and such otherin formation as the superintendent of common schools may 
from time to time require, in relation to common school education in the 
city and county of New- York. 

§ 4. If the board of education shall neglect to make such annual report 
within the time limited, the share of school moneys apportioned to the city 
and county of New-York may, in the discretion of the superintendent of 
common schools, be withheld \mtil a suitable report shall have been ren- 
dered. 

§ 5. The clerk of the board of education shall have charge of the rooms, 
books, papers and documents of the board, and shall in addition to his duties 
as secretary of the board, perform such other clerical duties as may be re- 
quired by its members or committees : 

§ 6. All schools which have been organized under the act entitled "An 
■act to extend to the city and county of New- York the provisions of the 
general act in relation to common schools, passed April 11, 1842," and the 
acts amending the same, or organized or adopted under this act, shall be call- 
ed common schools ["ward schools,"] or ward primaries, and each class 
shall be numbered consecutively, according to the time of their organization 
or adoption, and all such schools shall be under the supervision and govern- 
ment of the commissioners, inspectors and trustees of the ward in which 
they are located. 

21 



322 

POWERS AND DUTIES OF SCHOOL OFFICERS. 

g 7. It shall be the duty of the school officers, or a majority of them, in 
any ward: 

1st. To certify to the board of education of the city and county of 'Nevr 
York, 'v\-houever iu their opinion it is necessary, to organize one or more addi- 
tional schools in said \v;ud, with the facts and circumstances showing such 
necessity, together with the character of the school buildings required, and 
the number and class of schohu-s who will piobably attend such schools if- 
organized, and to organise such schools as hereinafter provided : 

2nd. To provide, under such rules and regulations as the board of educa- 
tion may establish, the necessary books, stafionary, and other essentials ne- 
cessary to organize and conduct any school in their ward ; 

Srd. To examine, ascertain and report to the board of education, and as 
frequently as may be, Avhether the provisions ofthis act in relation to the 
teaching of sectarian doctrines, or the use of sectarian books, shall have 
been violated ; and 

4th. To notify the bo.ard of education of any vacancy in the office of any 
school officer of their respective ^vards. 

POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSIONERS. 

§ 8. It shall be the duty of the commissioners of common schools in the 
several wixi-ds : 

1st. To attend all the meetings of the board of education ; and if any 
commissioner shall refuse or neglect to attend any, three successive stated 
meetings of the board, after having been personally notitied to attend, and if 
no satisfactory cause of his non-attendance be shown, the board may declare 
his office vacant ; 

'2nd. To transmit to the board of education all reports made to them by 
the tnrstees and inspectors of their respective wards ; 

Srd. To visit and examine all the schools entitled to participate in the 
apportionment ; 

4th. They shall be ex officio raember.s of the board of trustees in then- 
respective wards. 

POWERS AND DUTIES OF INSPECTORS. 

§ 9. It shall be the duty of the inspectors of common schools : 
1st. To inspect and examine each of the schools in then respective wards, 
at least twice in each year, :md ofteuer if necessary ; and on or before the 
fifteenth day of October, in each )"ear, to make and transmit to the board of 
education and to the trustees of the ward, a report in writing, in which 
they shall set forth the condition of the sever.al school buildings in use in 
their ward, and whether any, and if any, what repairs, alterations or modi- 
dcations of those buildings seem to them necessary ; . 

2. Whether they are kept clean and in good order ; 

3. In what manner they are heated and ventilated, and how effectual 
the means used are in prodticiug the result desired ; 

4. The studies pursued ; 

5. The progress of the classes in their different studies ; 

6. The pimctuality of attendance of the scholars and teachers ; 

7. The order, attention and general appeai-ance of the school ; 

8. The length of each morning and evening session, and the liumber and 
length of recesses allowed ; 

9. The number ^and qualifications of the teachers, and such other facts as 
in their opinion are important to insure the discipline or extend the useful- 
ness of the schools; 

10. In conjunction with the city superintendent of common schools, to 
license teachers for their respective wards ; and 



323 

' • 11. To examine and audit all accounta ■when duly certified by the trup- 
■ teefl to be correct. 

POWERS AND DUTIES OF TRUSTEES. 

§ 10. It sliall be the duty of the trustees of each ward and they shall 
liavc power : 

1. To have the safe keeping of all the property belonging to the ward 
-choolH and the ward primaries in tlicir respective wards ; 

2. Under such general rules and rcgulation.s as the board of education 
..may adopt, to contract with and employ teachers in naid schools, and make 

other contracts for conducting and managing their schools; 

.J. To procure, as may be necessary, blank books, in one of which a state- 
ment of the amounts of all moneys received and paid by the trustees, and 
of all moveaV;le property behmging to each school shall de er tered at large 
and signed by such trustees ; and in other books, the teacher shall enter 
the names and residence of the scholars attending school, and the number of 
days they shall have respectively attended ; and also the days on which 
each school shall have been visited by the city superintendent and the school 
officers of the ward, or any of them, which entries shall be verified by the 
oath or affirmation of the principal teacher in such school. The said books 
shall be preserved by the trustees as the property of the 8<?hool8, and shall 
be delivered to their successors; 

4. To make, on or before the fifteenth da\' of .January, in every year, 
and transmit to the board of education, a report in writing, dated on the 
first day of January, which shall 'je signed and certified Vjy a majority of the 
trustees, which report shall state : the whole number of schools within their 
jurisdiction, especially designating the schools for colored children ; the 
length of time each school sliall have been kept open ; the whole number of 
scholars over four and under twenty-one years of age, who shall have been 
taught, free of expense to such scholars, in their schools during the year 
preceding the first day of January, which number shall be ascertained by 
adding to the number of children on register at the commencement of each 
year, the number admitted during that year, which shall be considered the 
total for that year ; the average number that lias actually attended such 
schools during the year to be ascertained by the teacher.?' keeping an exact 
account of the number of scholars present every school time or half day, 
whicli being added together and divided by four hundred and sixty, or if 
less tlian a year, by the number of school sessions, shall be considered the 
average of attending scholars, which average shall be sworn or affirmed to 
by the teachers ; a detailed statement of the amount of moneys received 
for their respective schools during the la'^t year from the chamberlain of the 
city, and of the purposes for, and the manner in which the same shall have 
been expended ; and a particular account of the state of the schools and of 
the property and affairs of each school under their care ; and the titles of 

' all books used, with such other information as the board of education shall 
require. A report in all respects similai' shall be required from the trustees, 
managers or directors of the corporate schools ; 

5. To hold as a corporation, all personal property vested in or transfer- 
red to them for school purposes in their respective wards ; and 

6. To render at the expiration of their respective terms of office, to their 
successors, a just and true account in writing, of all moneys received by 
them for gehool purposes, and of the manner in which the same shall have 
been expended, and to pay any balance wliich may remain in their hands, to 
their successors. 

OF THE CITY SUPEKINTENDENT. 

§ 11. The Iward of education shall appoint a city superintendent of 
common schools for the city and county of New- York, Avho shall hold his of- 
fice for two years, subject to removal by the board, on complaint for cause 



324 

-stated. He shall perform such duty, and be subject: to such rules, and 
receive such salary, as may be prescribed by the board of education ; but 
the salary shall not be increased or diminished during his term of of- 
fice. 

It shall be his duty specially : 

1. To visit and examine all schools entitled to participate in the appor- 
tionment of the school moneys, as often in each year as the board of educa- 
tion may direct, and at least once in each year to notify the inspectors of com- 
mon schools of the vrard of the time appointed to visit the schools in such 
ward, and to invite such inspectors to visit with him the said schools, and, 
with such inspectors, if they, or any of them, shall attend at such visits, or, 
withoiit their presence, at any time to enquire into all matters relating to the 
government, course of instruction, books, studies, discipline, and condiict of 
such schools, and the condition of the school-houses, and of the schools gen- 
erally, and to advise and to counsel with the trustees in relation to their duties 
the proper studies, discipline, and conduct of the schools, the course of in- 
struction to be pursued, and the books of elementary instruction to be used 
therein ; and to examine, ascertain, and report to the board of education 
whether the provisions of the act in relation to religious sectarian teaching 
and books have been violated in any of the schools of the different wards of 
the city : 

2. To examine , in conjunction with the inspectors of any ward, persons 
offering themselves as candidates for teachers of common schools, and to 
grant them certificates of qualification, in such form as shall be prescribed 
by the board of education ; which certificates, when countersigned by one or 
more inspectors, shall be evidence of tire qualifications of such teachers in 
every ward of the city and county: and 

3. " Generally, by all the means in his power, to promote sound education, 
elevate the character and qualifications of teachers, improve the means of 
instruction, and advance the interests of the schools committed to his 
charge. 

§ 12. The city superintendent shall be subject to such general rules and 
regulations as the superintendent of common schools may prescribe; and appeals 
from his acts and decisions may be made to the superintendent in the same 
manner and with like effect, as in cases now provided by law, and he shall 
make annually to the superintendent of common schools, at such times as 
skaU be appointed by him, a report in writing, containing the whole number 
of schools in the city and county, distinguishing the schools from which the 
necessary reports have been made to the board of education, by the com- 
missioners, inspectors and trustees of common schools, and containing a cer- 
tified copy of the reports of the board of education, to the clerk of the city 
and county, with such additional information as the superintendent of com- 
mon schools may require. 

§ 13. The office of county superintendent of common schools for the city 
and county of New- York is hereby abolished. , 

OF THE SUPPORT OF THE SCHOOLS. 

§ 14. Whenever the clerk of the city and county shall receive notice from 
the supei'intendent of common schools of the amoimt of moneys apportioned 
to the county of New- York, for the support and encouragement of common 
i schools therein, he shall immediately lay the same before the board of su- 
pervisors of the said county ; and the chamberlain of the said city shall ap- 
ply for, and receive the scliool moneys apportioned to the said county as 
soon as the same become payable, and place the same to the credit of the 
mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New-York, for the benefit 
of public education therein. 

§ 15. The said board of supervisors .«hall annually raise and collect by 
tax upon the inhabitants of the said city and county, a sum of money equal 
to thesmn specified in such notice, at the time and in the same manner as 



the contingent charges of the sau\ city and county are levied and collected; 
also a sum of money equal to one-twentieth of one per cent of the value of 
the real and personal property in the said city, liable to be assessed thereon, 
and pay the same into the city treasury, to be applied to the purposes of 
common schools in the said city ; and the board of education shall apportion 
the money so raised to each of the schools hereafter provided for by this act, 
except the free academy, and the evening schools, according to the number of 
children over four and under twenty-one years of age, who were actual resi- 
dents of the city and county of New- York at the time of their attendance oa 
such schools, without charge, the preceding year ; and the average shall be 
ascertained by adiling together, the number of such children present at each 
morning and afternoon session, of not less than three hours, and dividing the 
sum by four hundred and sixty ; and if any school shall have been organized 
since the last annual apportionment, the average shall be ascertained by di- 
viding by a number corresponding to the actual number of morning and even- 
ing sessions, of not less than three hours each, held since the organization of 
such school; and the sum apportioned to any schools, other than the ward 
schools, shall be paid to the trustees, managers or directors of such schools, 
respectively, by drafts on the city chamberlain, to be signed by the president 
and clerk of said board, and made payable to the order of the treasurers of 
said trustees, managers, or directors. 

§ 1 6. Said board of supervisors shall also raise and collect at the same 
time, and in the same manner, auch additional sum or sums as the board of 
education, inpm-suanee of the provisions of the first subdivision of the third 
section of this act, shall have reported to be necessary for the pm-poses therein 
mentioned. Such moneys shall be paid into the city treasury, and shall, 
together with the amount appoi-tioned to the ward schools, be paid by the 
chamberlain of the said city upon the drafts drawn on him by the board of 
education, signed by the president, and countersigned by the clerk of the 
board, and by the commissioners, or one of them, of the ward for which 
the money is to be paid, except such sums as shall be drawn pin-sudnt to the 
fifth sub-di\asion of the second section of this act, which shall be paid by 
said chamberlain, upon drafts drawn on him by said board, signed by the 
president and clerk, and countersigned by the chairman of the finance com- 
mittee of said board, and all drafts shall be made payable to the person or 
persons entitled to receive the same. 

§ 17. If any of the said newly organised ward schools, by reason of pecu- 
liar circumstances, shall be equitably entitled to a larger sum than they will 
receive under an apportionment made as aforesaid, then the board of educa- 
tion shall be authorised, and they are hereby required to make to sach schools 
such further allowance out of the school moneys, as they, the board of educa- 
tion, shall deem just and proper. 

§ 18. No school shall be entitled to, or receive any portion of the school 
moneys in which the religious doctrines or tenets of any particular christian, 
or other religious sect, shall be taught, inculcated or practiced, or in which 
any book or books, containing compositions favorable or prejudicial to the 
particular doctrines or tenets of any particular christian, or other religious 
sect, or which shall teach the doctrines or tenets of any other religions sect, 
or which shall refuse to permit the visits and examinations provided for in 
this act. But nothing herein contained shall authorise the board of education 
to exclude the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, or any selections 
.therefrom, from any of the schools provided for by this act ; but it shall not 
be competent for the said board of education to decide what version, if any 
of the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, shall be used in any of the 
schools : "Provided that nothing herein contained shall be so construed , as 
to violate the rights of conscience as secm-ed by the constitution of this state, 
and of the United States. 

§ 19. If the school moneys apportioned to the common schools, agi-eeably 
to the previous secfcioil of this act, shall exceed the necessary and legal ex- 



326 

penses of either of such schools, the board of education shall authorise the 
payment only of such sum or sums, as shall be sufficient to provide for such 
expenses, and any deficiency in tlie sums apportioned to meet the necessary 
and legal expenses of public education in the said schools, shall be supplied 
by the common council of the said city, and they are hereby authorised and 
directed to raise by loan, in anticipation of the annual tax, such sum or sums, 
as shall be necessary to meet such deficiency. And the board of education 
shall, in all cases, certify to the common council the cause of such deficiency, 
and that the same was unavoidable, and unless such certificate shall be 
made, the said common council may refuse to raise the sum requhed to 
meet such deficiency. 

§ 20. In making the apportionment among the several schools, no share 
shall be allotted to any school from which no sufficieht annual report shall 
have been received for the year ending on the last day of December, im- 
mediately preceding the apportionment. 

§ 21. Whenever an apportionment of the public money shall not be made 
to any school, in consequence of any accidental omission to make any re- 
port required by law, or to comply with any other regulation or provision 
of law, the board of education may, in its discretion, direct an apportion- 
ment to be made to such school, according to the equitable circumstances 
of the case, to be paid out of the public money on hand, or if the same shall 
have been distributed, out of the public money to be received in a succeeding 
year. 

OF THE SCHOOLS ENTITLED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE APPORTIONMENT. 

§ 22. The schools of the Public School Society, the New- York Orphan 
Asylum School, the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum School, the schools of 
the two Half-Orphan Asylums, the school of the Mechanic's Society, the 
school of the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents in the city 
of New-York, the Hamilton Free School, the school for the Leake and Watt's 
Orphan House, the school connected with the Alms House of the said city , 
the school of the Association for the benefit of Colored Orphans, the schools 
of the American Female Guardian Society, the schools of the society for the 
promotion of education among colored children, the schools organized under 
the act entitled, "An act to extend to the city and county of New- York, the , 
provisions of the general act in relation to common schools, passed April 11, 
1842," or an act to amend the same, passed April 18, 1843, or an act entitled 
an act more effectually to provide for common school education in the city 
and county of New -York, passed May 7, 1844, or any of the acts amending 
the same and including such normal schools for the education of teachers as 
the board of education may organize, and the normal school of the public 
school society for the education of teachers, and such schools as may be or- 
ganized under the pi'ovisions of this act, shall be subject to the general super- 
vision of the board of education, and shall be entitled to pai-ticipate in the 
apportionment of the school . moneys as provided for in this act, but they 
shall be under the immediate direction of their respective trustees, managers 
and directors, as herein provided. 

OF NEW SCHOOLS. 

§ 23. Whenever a majority of the school oflBcers of any ward shall certify 
in writing to the board of education, that it is necessary to establish a school . 
in said ward, with the facts and circumstances showing such necessity, to- 
gether with the number and class of scholars who will probably attend such 
school if established; it shall be the duty of the board of education, without 
delay, to investigate the subject and determine the expediency of establishing 
such school in such ward applying for the same. Should the ward officers 
or any of them, deem themselves aggrieved by such decision, they may appeal 
to the state superintendent of common schools, who shall decide as to the 



327 

propriety of the establishment of such school, and his decision, if adverse to 
the appellants, shall be biudiag for the term of one year. 

§ 24. Upon a decision favorable to the establishment of a school or 
•jchpols in anv of the wards uf the said city, it shall be lawful for the school 
officers of said ward to proceed t(j organize one or more schools, such as may 
be authorized by the board of education, and procure a school-house, by 
purchasing or hiring the same, or by procuring a site and erecting a building 
thereon, aecordieg to plans and specifications, and contracts wliich shall 
have been duly filed with and approved by the board of educatiou, the 
erection of which said building, and the fitting up thereof, and the fitting 
up of any hired building, shall be done by contract, proposals for which 
shall be advertised for two weeks previous to deciding upon estimates 
thereon, unless such fitting up shall not exceed the sum of two hundred 
dollars ; and the expense of establishing and organizing any school, as 
above mentioned, shall be levied and raised pursuant to the provisions of 
this act. 

§ 25. The title to all school property, real aiid personal, purchased with 
any moneys derived from the distribution or apportionment of the school 
moneys, or raised by taxation in the city of New York, shall be vested in 
the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of said city, but no contract or con- 
tracts shall be made by the school ofiicers of any ward for the purchase of 
any site, or for the erection or fitting up, or repairing of any building, when 
such repairs shall exceed in amount the sum of two hundred dollars, as au- 
thorised in this act, until a statement in -writing of the amoimt required for 
that purpose shall have been presented to the board of educatiou by said 
school ofiicers, and, together with a copy of the working-drawings, plans, 
and specifications of the work to be done, pursuant to the provisions of 
this act, shall have been duly filed and approved of as herein required, 
and an appropriation shall have been made by the board of education there 
for. 

§ 26. The trustees, managers and directors of any of the corporate 
schools entitled to participate in the apportionment of the school monies, 
may, at any time, convey their school-houses and sites to the corporation o 
the city of New York, and transfer any of their schools to the board of ed- 
ucation, on the terms and in the maimer to be agreed upon and presci'ibed 
by the board of education, so as either to merge the said schools in the ward 
schools, or adopt them as ward schools ; and the same shall then be ward 
schools, subject to all the rules, duties and liabilities, and enjoy the same 
rights, as if they had been originally established as ward schools. But noth- 
ing in this act shall take away fi-om the Public School Society any rights 
which they have heretofore enjoyed, and the board of education are au- 
thorized to provide the Public School Society with all necessary monej's to 
make all proper repairs, alterations and improvements in the various school 
premises occupied by them. 

OF THE DISCONTINUANCE OF SCHOOLS. 

§ 27. Whenever, owing to any nuisance or other circumstance, in ihe 
immediate vicinity of any school, or to the small attendance of scholars 
therein, or other sufficient reason, it shall appear to the board of education 
necessary and proper to discontinue such school, in any of the wards of this 
city, the said board shall give notice to the trustees of said school of its in- 
tention to consider the propriety of such discontinuance ; and in thirty day* 
after such notice, may proceed'to investigate the matter, and if a majority of 
the school officers of the ward shall consent to the same, and if the said board 
shall determine by a vote of a majority of all the members thereof that it 
is proper to close the same, it shall be the duty of said board .to withhold all 
moneys which may have been apportioned or appropriated for the support 
of said school, and the said school shall not thereafter participate in any sub- 
sequent apportionment of the school moneys. So soon as the same shall 



328 

take effect, the comptroller of the city shall be notified thereof by the said 
board, and the said school-house and site may thereupon be used or disposed 
of, as a part of the general property of 'the city. 

MISCELLANEOUS PROyiSIONS. 

§ 28. The common council of the city of New York are hereby author- 
ized and directed to raise by loan, in anticipation of the taxes, when necessa- 
ry, all moneys required for erecting, purchasing or leasing school-houses, and 
procuring sites therefor, and the fitting up and furnishing thereof, and for al-. 
terations in or additions to the present school-buildings, or required for any 
other of the purposes authorized by this act. 

§ 29. All expenses incurred for the support of common schools in the re-- 
spective wards, shall be certified by the trustees of common schools in such 
ward, or a majority of them, and delivered to the inspectors of said ward; 
and it shall be'the duty of said inspectors to examine and audit the same, 
and upon said inspectors being satisfied of their correctness, to certify the 
same to the board of education. All bills audited and paid shall be filed with 
the board of education. 

§ SO. No compensation shall be allowed to the commissioners, inspectors 
or trustees of common schools for any services performed by them, but the 
commissioners and inspectors shall receive their actual and reasonable expen- 
ses wliile attending to the duties of their office, to be audited and allowed by 
the board of education. 

§ 81. Eyery school offi(?er who shall refuse or neglect to render an ac- 
count, or to pay over any balance in his hands, at the expiration of his term 
of ofiice, shall for each offence forfeit the sum of fifty dollars, which sum, to-' 
gether with said unpaid balance, shall be sued for and collected by the board 
of supervisors, Avho shall prosecute without delay for the recovery of sueh 
forfeiture, together with the unpaid balance ; and in ease of the death of such 
school officer, suit may be brought against his representatives, and all monies 
recovered, after deducting expenses, shall be placed at the disposal of the 
board of education. . . . , . ^. 

§ 32. Every school officer or teacher of a school or society, who gbalLwil'- 
fully sign a false report to the board of education, shall for each offence for^ 
feit the sum of twenty-five dollars, and shall also be deemed guilty of a 
misdemeanor. ^ 

§ 33. The foUowmg shall be, substantially.j the form of oath or affirma- 
tion to be made by the teacher : 

" A. B., of the city of New- York, teacher of 
iq-Q. department, being duly sworn or affirmed, declai-es and 

says, that to the best of (his or her) knowledge andbeUef, the average num-^ 
ber of children, actual residents of the city and county of New York, at the 
time of attending said school, between the ages of four and twenty -one years, 
who attended said school or department, each school-time or half day, from 
the day of to the first day of January, 

-^as - . Said average having been obtained by 

adding together the number of scholars present each school-tune, or half day 
and dividing the total by four hundred and sixty, agreeably to the fifteenth 
section of this act." 

• § 34. In any suit which shall hereafter be' commenced against the com- 
missioners or trustees of common schools, for any act performed by virtue of 
or under color of their offices, or for any refusal or omission to perform any 
duty enjoined by law, and which might have been the subject ot an appeal 
to the superintendent, no costs shall be allowed to the plaintiff in_cases where 
the court shall certify it appeared, on the trial of the cause, that the defend- 
ant acted in good faith. ., But this provision shall not extend to suits for pen- 
alties, nor to suits or proceedings to enforce the decisions of the supei-intend- 
8nt of common schools. 



32g 

J . At, .-;; 

§ 35. All children between the ages of four and twenty-one, residing in 
the city and county, shall be entitled ti) attend any of the counuou schools 
therein ; and the parents, guarcii-ins or otlier persons having the custody or 
care of such children, shall n it be liable to any tax, assessment or im- 
position for the tuition of any children, other than is hereinbefore provi- 
ded. 

§ 36. The free academy in the city of New- York shall be entitled to par- 
ticipate in the distribution of the income of the literature and other funds, in 
the same manner and upon the same conditions as the other academies of the 
state, and the regents of the university oi the state of New- York shall pay 
annually to the board of educati^in of tlie city and county of New-Ytirk, the 
distributive ehare of the said funds to which the said free academy shall by 
law be entitled.and which shall be applied and expended for library books for 
the said free academy. 

§ 37. The clerk of the board of education is hereby authorized to admin 
ister oaths and take affidavits in all matters appertaining to the schools in 
the city and county of New-York, and for that purpose shall possess all the 
powers of a commis-ioner of deeds, but shall not be entitled to any of the 
fees or emoluments thereof. 

§ 38. No school officer shall be interested in any contract, payments under 
which are to be made, in whole or in part, out of moneys derived from the 
school fund or raised by taxation for the support of common schools. No 
teacher employed in any of the schools entitled to participate in the appor- 
tionment of the school moneys, shall hereafter be eligible to the office of com- 
missioner, inspector or trustee of common schools. 

§ 39. The common council shall provide and furnish suitable rooms, 
for the meeting of the board of education, and for the transaction of its busi- 
ness. 

{5 40. The act entitled, " An act to extend to the city and county of New 
York the provisions of the general act in relation to common schools," passed 
April 11th, 1842, and an act amending the same, passed April 18th, 1843; 
and the act entitled, "An act more effectually to provide for comnion school' 
education in the city and county of New- York," jiassed May 7th, 1844, and 
the several acts amending the same, passed respectively on May 1 1th, 1847 ; 
March 27th, 1848 ; April 11th. 1849 ; and the act authorizing the board of 
education of the city of New- York to establish evening schools for the edu- 
cation of apprentices, and others, passed March 25th, 1848; and an act au- 
thorizing the board of education of the city and county of New-York to es- 
tablish a free academy in, caid city, passed May 7th, 1847, and all other acts 
and parts of acts inconsistent %vith or repugnant to the provisions of this act, 
are hereby repealed. 

OSWEGO. 

, By chapter 116, laws of 1848, a city superintendent of eopimop schools is 
authorized to be elected, who " shall have all the powers and perform all the 
duties, and be subject to all the liabilities and obligations of town superinten- 
dents of common schools in any town of the coimty of Oswego ; and he shall 
ajso commence his term of office at the same time, and hold it for the same 
period as town superintendent." § 20. 

By § 10 of the same act, as amended by the first section of chap. 182, 
laws of 1849, it is provided that "in case a vacancy, from any cause, shall 
happen in the office of superintendent of common schools, the common coun- 
cil may appoint, by ballot, a qualified person to fill such vacancy." 



330 
POUGHKEEPSIE. 

[Laws of IMS. Chap. 211.'] 

AN ACT to establish Free Schools in the village of Poughheepsie. 

Passed April 18, 1843, by a two-third vote. 

The People of the State of New -York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

§ 1. The village of Poughkeepsie shall form a permanent school district, 
not subject to alteration by the commissioners of common schools for the town 
in which the said village is situated. 

§ 2. There shall be elected in said district the first year, twelve commis- 
sioners of common schools, as soon after the passage of this act as the trus- 
tees of the village of Poughkeepsie can order an election, for the choice of 
said commissioners, after giving one week's notice in all the papers of the 
village, of the time and place of holding said election; the twelve commis- 
sioners then elected shall constitute, and are hereby denominated, the Board 
of Education for the village of Poughkeepsie. Four of the said board shall 
go out of office at the expiration of the first year, four at the expiration of 
the second year, four at the expiration of the third year— four persons being 
annually elected to supply their plaees,who shall hold their office in said board 
for three years. The annual election shall be held on the first Tuesday in 
June of each year. 

§ 3, The trustees of the village of Poughkeepsie shall appoint inspectors 
of the said elections, and of all other elections to be held under this act, with- 
in thirty days next preceding the time of holding the same ; and notice there- 
of shall be given in the same manner, and the same shall be held and con- 
ducted, the votes shall be canvassed, and the result of the election determined 
in the same manner as in the case of the annual election of other ofiicers of 
the said village. 

§ 4. In case of vacancy in the office of any such commissioners, or in 
case no person shall be elected thereto, by reason of two orinore persons 
having an equal number of votes, the trustees shall appoint an inhabitant of 
the village to fill the same, and the person appointed shall hold his office un- 
til the next election of commissioners of common schools. 

§ 5. Immediately after the election of the said board of education, they 
shall proceed, under the provisions of this law, to build and furnish one good 
and substantial school-house, containing two rooms, of sufficient capacity to 
accommodate not less than one hundred and twenty-five pupils each, and to 
rent five other rooms for primary schools ; said primary schools to be opened 
for the reception of pupils by the' first of May next ensuing, or as soon there- 
after as practicable, and the" other schools on or before the first of November 
next ensuing. ' Whenever the board may deem necessary, they shall have 
authority to establish other primary schools ; and for the purpose of defraying 
the expenses of the five primary schools, and the schools to be kept in the 
building provided for in this section, for the first year after the passage of 
this act, the trustees of the corporation of the village of Poughkeepsie shall 
levy and raise the sum of fifteen hundred dollars. 

§ 6. The trustees of the village of Poughkeepsie are hereby authorized 
and required to borrow on the bond of the corporation, at a rate of interest 
not exceeding seven per cent, per annum, for such a term of years as they 
may deem proper, the sum of three thousand dollars, for the purchase of a 
filte and erection of a school-house, as is provided for in the preceding sec- 
tion ; the money loaned to be payable in equal annual instakiients of five 
hundred dollars per annum, after the expiration of the term of years for which 
it may be borrowed. 



331 

§ T. It shall be the duty of the board of education to make to the trus- 
tees of the village of Poiighkee|:i9ie, who kIijiU cause it to be puljlislied in at 
least two papers of the said village, an annual report, on or before the first 
Tuesday in February of each year, setting forth the number and condition of 
each school under their charge, and a detail of all the expenses during the past 
year, and all other particulars relating to the schools. 

§ 8. In their annual report, the said board of education shall fix and de- 
termine, and certify the amount of money which, wlieu added to the money 
annually apportioned to the said corporation, out of the funds belonging to 
the state, shall be necessary to support all the schools under their superin- 
tendence. The said amount shall in no case exceed four times the amount 
which shall have been apportioned out of the funds belonging to the state as 
aforesaid, for the year next preceding. « 

§ 9. On the day of the annual charter election of said village, the trus- 
tees shall state to the citizens the amount recommended by the board of ed- 
ucation to be raised for the support of schools for the ensuing year, and the 
electors may vote the sum reported by said b'jard, or any other amount they 
shall deem proper, not inconsistent with the preceding section. 

§ 10. The trustees of said village shall annually levy and raise the amount 
of money so voted, at the same time and in the same manner as the other 
general taxes of the said village are levied and raised ; and a separate col- 
umn shall be provided in the general assessment rolls of the said village, in 
which shall be inserted by the vill%e trustees the amount of tax assessed for 
the support of common schools. 

§ 1 1. All moneys levied and raised for the support of common schools, 
together with the public moneys received from the state,'shall be paid to the 
treasurer of the village of Poughkeepsie, and shall be kept by him in the 
-same manner as other moneys of said village are kept, and shall be paid out 
by said treasurer from time to time, upon the resolution of the board of ed- 
ucation, duly certified by the clerk thereof, and not otherwise. 

§12. Whenever the said board of education shall deem an additional 
school-house necessary, they shall mention the same in their annual report, to- 
gether with the location they propose for it, the cost of a lot for tlie building, 
a plan of the building and an estimate of the cost of it. And the electors of 
the village, at the annual election on the iirst Tuesday of June for four mem- 
bers of the board of education, as is hereinbefore provided for, shall vote by 
ballot for or against the erection of said school-house, under such regulations 
for conducting the election as the trustees of the village shall prescribe ; and 
it shall not be lawful to erect said school-house until a majority of electors 
voting at such election shall decide in favor of it ; and the cost of building 
and furnishing of said school-house .shall in no case exceed the sum of three 
thousand dollars. 

§ 13. Whenever the electors shall decide in favor of the erection of an ad- 
ditional school-house, it shall be the duty of the trustees of the village of 
Poughkeepsie to borrow on the bond of the village, at a rate of interest not 
exceeding seven per cent, per annum, the sura of three thousand dollars, for 
the erection of said school-house ; but no part of said loan shall be payable 
in a less term than twelve years and then to be payable in equal annual instal- 
ments of five hundred dollars each. And all the loans authorized by this act', 
for the purchase of sites and erection of school-houses, shall not exceed the 
sum of twelve thousand dollars. 

§ 14. The trustees of said village are hereby authorized to raise by tax 
upon the real and personal property of said village, in the same manner as 
the general taxes of said village are levied and collected, the annual interest 
of the above mentioned loan or loans, and to pay over the same m discharge 
of such interest ; and also in each year in which an instalment of the above 
loan or loans shall become due, to raise, levy and collect, in the same man- 
ner, a sum equal to that instalment, and to pay over the same in discharge 
thereof. 



332'' 

§ 15. Tlie said board of education, in addition to the powers and duties 
prescribed by tbis act, shall perform all the duties, and shall have and pos- 
sess all the rights, powers and authority of commissioners of common schools 
in the several towns of this state, which shall not conflict with the provi- 
sions of this law. 

§ 16. The said board of education shall have power to establish and 
cause to be kept, a scliool or schools in said vi lage for the instruction of col- 
ored children. 

§ 17. The said board of education, in addition to performing all the du- 
ties of commissioners of common schools, shall require three of their number 
to visit each school once a week, and render such assistance to the teacher 
and advice to the pupils as may be expedient. 

§ 18. The said board of education shall make bylaws to regulate their 
proceedings, and shall have the entire control and management of all the 
common schools of the village, and the property connected therewith. 

§ 19. The said board of education shall annually report to the commis- 
sioners of the town of Poughkeepsie, the number of children over the ages 
of five and under sixteen years, in said district. 

_ § 20. The commissioners of common schools of the town of Poughkeep- 
sie shall pay over to the treasurer of said village the amount of the public 
monej^ that said village is entitled to receive from the State. 

§ 21. The said board of education shall have control of the district li- 
brary, shall employ a librarian, and shall, from time to time, make such reg- 
ulations respecting it as they shall deem necessary. 

§ 22. The services of the board of education, designated by this act, 
sha;ll be gratuitous, and any person elected a member of said board who shall 
refuse to serve, shall be liable to a penalty of twenty-five dollars, to be sued' 
for and recovered by the trustees of the village, and the money to be applied 
to the purposes of education. 

§ 23. The present Lancaster school may, with the consent ef the trustees 
thereof and not otherwise, constitute one of the common schools in said 
village, and shall be conducted and supported as other schools mider this 
act. 

§ 24. All previous acts relating to common schools in the village of 
Poughkeepsie, conflicting with this act, shall be, and are, hereby repeal- 
ed. 

^ § 25. This act shiill not take effect unless approved by a majority of the 
legal voters of the village of Poughkeepsie, at a special election to be called 
for that purpose by the trustees of the village, within thirty days after the 
passage of this act, public notice of which shall be given in all the village 
papers, and by handbills, for at least one week before holding the election. 
The electors shall vote by ballot, the ballots having written or printed upon 
them the words "for free schools," or "against fi-ee schools ;'( and the elec- 
tion shall be conducted as the trustees of said village may prescribe, arid 
they shall certify the result thereof; and if a majority of the said ballots 
shEill be " for free schools," then this act shall take eitect immediately. 

ROCHESTER. 

[Chap. 262, laws of 1850, as amended by chap. 389, Z«m;so/1851.] 

By § 9 of Title II, two Commissioners of Common Schools are required to 
be annually elected in each ward, on the first Tuesday in March. 

" For the election of commissioners of common schools the electors of each 
ward shall deposit their ballots, containing the name of one person designated 
for the office ; the two persons having the highest number of votes shall be 
declared to be elected ; no ballot which contains more than one name 
shall be counted" § 17. By § 30. in case a vacancy shall occur in the office, 
" the Common Council may, in their discretion, fiU such vacancy, by the ap- 



333 

pointment of a suitable person who is an elector, and if appointed for a -ward 
or district, who is a resident of the ward or district for which he sliall be ap- 
pointed ; and any officer appointed to fill a vacancy, if the office is elective, 
shall hold by virtue of such appointment, only until the first Monday of April 
next succeeding. If an elective officer whose office shall have become vacant, 
was one of a class, a successor for the unexpired term shall be elected at the 
next annual election." 

Bv § 32 every person so elected or appointed to the office of commission- 
er, shall, before he enters on the duties of his office, and within five days after 
being notified of such election or appointment, take the oath of office prescri- 

Jbed by the constitution of the State, before some officer authorized to take 
, affidavits to be read in courts of justice, and file the same with the clerk of 
the city ; and by § 34 his neglect to do so, or if required by the common 

J, council, to execute an official bond or imdertaking, the neglect to execute and 

1 1 file the same in manner and within the time prescribed by the common coun 

.cil, shall be deemed a refusal to serve. 

TITLE VI SCHOOLS AND BOARD OF EDUCATION. 

§ 161. The several wards of the city of Rochester shall constitute one 
school district, for all purposes except as herein otherwise provided, and the 
schools therein shall be free to all children between the ages of five and six- 
teen [twenty one] residing in such wards. 

§ 162. The titles of the school houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, appara- 
tus and appurtenances, and all other school property in this act mentioned, 
shall, within three mouths from the passage of this act, be transferred and 
conveyed by the trustees of . the several school districts in the said city, to 
the said city of Rochester. 

§ 163. The several school districts now in the city of Rochester shall, with- 
in three months from the passage of this act, deliver over to and place in the 
care of the board of education hereinafter mentioned, all school district re- 
cords, account books, vouchers, contracts, papers and other school property ; 
and the said school officers of the said city and the several school districts 
thereof shall continue in office luitil the unfinished business of said districts 
shall have been finally closed up and settled, not exceeding three months after 
the passage of this act, with all the power and duties now by law imposed up- 
on them for the purpose of closing such unfinished business. 

§ 164. The common council of said city may, upon the recommendation of 
the board of education hereinafter mentioned, sell any of the school houses, 
lots or sites, or any other school property now or hereafter belonging to said 
citv, upon such terms as the said common council may deem reasonable. The 
proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the city treasurer of the city, and 
shall be by the said cdlnmon council again expended in the purchase, repairs 
or improvements of other school houses, lots, sites or school furniture, appara- 
tus or appurtenances. 

§ 165. The commissioners of common schools in said city shall constitute 
a board to be styled the " Board of Education of the city of Rochester," which 
shall be a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties conferred 
upon them by virtue of this act ; they shall meet on the first Monday of each 
and every month, and as much oftener as they shall from time to time -appoint ; 
a majority of the said board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of 
business. The said board shall appoint one of their number president, who 
shall, when present, preside at all the meetings of said board, and shall have 
power to call special meetings of the board, in the manner described by this 
act for the calling of special meetings of the common council. In the absence 
of the president, the board shall appoint some other member to preside at 
such meetings and perform the duties of the president. No member of 
said board of education shall, during the period for which he was elected, be 
appointed to, or be competent to hold any office of which the emoluments ,are 
paid from the city treasury, or paid by fees directed to be paid by any act or 



334 

ordinance of the board of educaticn, cr be directly or indirectly Interested in 
any contract, as principal, surety, or otherwise, the expenses or consideration 
whereof are to be paid under any ordinance of the board of education. 

§ 16(5. The said commissioners shall annually appoint a city siiperintend- 
ent of common schools, who shall hold his otlice during the pleasure of the 
board, and whose compensation shall be fixed by the said board ; the said su- 
perintendent shall officiate as clerk of the board, and shall keep a record of 
the iDroceedings of the' board, and perforin such other duties as the board may 
prescribe. The said record or a transcript thereof, certified by the president 
and clerk, shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of facts there- 
in set forth ; and such records and all the books, accounts, vouchers and papers 
of said board shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the common 
council and of any committee thereof. 

§ 167. The common council of said city shall have the power, and it shall 
be their duty to raise from time to time, by tax to be levied equally upon all 
the real and personal estate in said city which shall be liable to taxation for 
the ordinary city taxes or for city or county charges, such sum or sums of mon- 
ey as may be necessary or proper for any or all the following purposes : 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school houses. 

2. To buUd, purchase, \ense, enlarge, improve, alter and repair school hoiis- 
es and their out-houses and appurtenances. 

3. To purchase, improve, exchange and repair school apparatus, books, fur- 
niture and appendages, 

4. To procm-e fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the common 
schools. 

5. To pay the wages of teachers due after the application of the public 
moneys which may by law be appropriated and provided for that purpose : 
provided, nevertheless, that the tax to be levied as aforesaid and collected by 
virtue of this act, shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner 
as other city taxes. 

6. And the amount to be raised for teachers' wages and contingent expan- 
ses, in any one year, shall not be less than four nor more than five times the 
amount appropritited to said city from the conmion school fund of the State 
during the previous year. Nor shall the amount to be raised in any one year, 
to lease, alter, improve and repair school houses and then- out-houses and ap- 
purtenances, exceed three thousand dollars. Nor shall the amount to be i-aised 
in any one year to purchase and improve sites, and build or enlarge school 
houses, exceed three thousand five hundred dollars each ; and the common 
council of said city are authorized and directed, when necessary, to raise by 
loan, in anticipation of the taxes, the moneys so to be raised, collected and 
levied as aforesaid. 

§ 168. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and 
all school moneys by law appropriated to; or provided for said city, shall be 
paid to the city treasurer thereof, who, together with their sureties upon his 
official bond, shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as for other 
moneys of said city. The said city treasurer shall be hable to the same penal- 
ties for any official misconduct in relation to the said moneys, as for any simi- 
lar misconduct in relation to other moneys of said city. 

§ 169. The said " board " shall have power, and it shall be their duty, 

1. To establish and organize in the several wards of said city such and so 
many schools (including the common schools now existing therein) as they 
shall deem requisite and exiDcdient, and to alter and discontinue the same. 

2. To hire school houses and rooms and improve them as they may deem 
proper. 

3. To alter, enlarge, and improve.and repair school houses and appurtenan- 
ces as they maj'- deem advisable. 

■i. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, fnrniture 
and appendages, and to defray their contingent expenses. 

5. 'J'o have the custody and safe keeping of the school houses, out-houses, 
fences, books, furniture and appendages, and to see that the ordinances of the 
common counncil in relation thereto be observed. 



335 

J,, 6. To contract witli, license and employ all teachers in said schools and at 
their pleasure to remove them. 

7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriated 
and provided by law for the support of schools in said city, so far as the 
same shall be sufficient, and the residue thereof from the money authori- 
sed to be raised for that purpose by section 167 of this act, by tax upon said 
city. 

8. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board including an 
annual salary to the superintendent. 

9. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and manage- 
ment of the common schools in said city, and from time to time to adopt, alter, 
modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their 
organization, government, visitation and instruction, for the reception of pupils 
and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for the promotion 

j,,of their good order, prosperity, and public utility. 

10. Whenever, in the opinion of the board it may be advisable to sell any 
o? the school houses, lots, or sites, or any of the school property now or here- 
after belonging to the city, to report the same to the common council. 

11. To prepare and report to the common council such ordinances and re- 
gulations as may be necessaiy or proper for the protect! on, 'safe keeping, care 
and preservation of school houses, lots, and sites and appurtenances, and all 
the property belonging to the city connected with, or appertaining to the 
schools, aniff to suggest proper penalties for the violation of such ordinances 
and regulatiojis ; and annually on or before the first day of September on each 
year to determine and certify to said common council, the sums in their opin- 
ion necessary or proper to be raised under the 167th section of this act, s^Deci- 
fying the sums required (for the year commencing on the first Monday of April 
thereafter) for each of the pm-poses therein mentioned and the reasons there- 
for. 

12. Between the first day of January and the fifteenth day of January in 
each year, to make and transmit to the county clerk or such other officer as 
may be designated by law, a report in writing, bearuig date the first day of 
January in the year of its transmission, and stating : 

1. The number of school houses in said city, and an account and descrip- 
tion of all of the common schools kept in said city during the preceding year, 
and the time they have severally been taught. 

2. The number of children taught in said schools respectively, and the 
number of children over the age of five [four] years, and under the age of 
sixteen [21] years residing in said city on the last day of December previous. 

3. The whole amount of school moneys received by the city treasm*er of 
aaid city dm'ing the year preceding, distinguishing the amount received from 
the county tieasurer from the city tax, and from any other source. 

4. The manner in which such moneys had been expended, and whether any 
and what part remains unexpended and for what cause. 

5. The amount of money received for tuition fees from foreign pupils du- 
ring the year, and the amount paid for teachers' wages in addition to the pub- 
lic monej-s, with such other information relating to the common schools of said 
city, as may from time to time be required by the state superintendent of com- 
mon schools. 

§ 170. The said board of education shall have power to allow the children 
of persons not resident within the city to attend any of the schools of said 
city under the care and control of said board, upon such terms as said board 
shall by resolution prescribe, fixing the tuition wliieli shall be paid therefor. 

§ 171. It shall be the duty of said board m all their expenditures and con- 
tracts to have reference to the amount of moneys which shall be subject to 
their order during the then cui'rent year, for the particular expenditm-e in ques- 
tion, and not to exceed that amount, and they shall apply the moneys levied, 
raised and received by them for the support of common schools in said city, in 



336 

such a manner as shall secure equal educational advantages to all the child* 
ren of said city over five andunder sixteen [21] years of age, by continuing the 
schools in each district an equal period as near as may be^ 

§ 172. The said board of commissioners shall be trustees of the school li- 
brary or libraries in said city, and all the (provisions of the la-w which now are 
or hereafter may be passed relative to district school libraries shall apply to 
the said commissioners. They shall also be vested with the same discretion 
as to the disposition of the moneys appropriated by any laws of this State 
■for the purchase of libraries which is therein conferred upon the inhabitants 
of school districts. It shall be their duty to provide for the safe keeping of 
the libraries. The city superintendent shall be the general librarian! The 
boBrd shall also appoint a librarian for each school, to have the care of the books 
and to superintend the letting out and return thereof. The several school 
librarians shall from time to time inform the general librarian of the state and 
condition of their libraries, and the said board or the general librarian under 
the direction or by resolution of the said board, may make all purchases of 
books for the libraries, and provide for their equitable distribution among the 
schools, and exchange or cause to be repaired, the damaged books belonging 
thereto, and also to sell any books which may be deemed useless, and apply 
the proceeds to the purchase of other books for said libraries. 

§ 173. It shall be the duty of the said board, at least twenty days be- 
fore the annual election for commissioners in each year, to prepare and 
report to the common council true and correct statements of the receipts 
and disbursements of money under and in pursuance of the provisions of this 
act, during the preceding year, in which account shall be stated under appro- 
priate heads, 

1. The moneys raised by the common council under the 167th section of 
this act : 

2. The school moneys received by the city treasurer of the city : 

3. The moneys received by the common council rmder the 167th section 
of lliis act : 

4. All other moneys received by the city treasurer subject to the order of 
the board specifying the same and sources : 

. 5. The manner in which sucli sums of money shall have been expended, speci- 
fying the amount paid under each head of expenditure. And the common 
COimeil shall, teh days before such election, cause the same to be published in 
at least two of the newspapers published in said city. 

'-' •§ 174. The common council of the said city shall have the powei- to pass 
Such ordinances and regulations as the said board of education may report 
as necessary and proper for the protection, safe keeping, care and preserva- 
tion of the school houses, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages, libraries, 
and all necessary property belonging to or connected with the schools in said 
city, and to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the 
restrictions and limitations contained in this act ; and all such penalties shall 
be collected in the same manner that the penalties for the violation of tlie city 
ordinances are by law collected, and when collected shall be paid to the city 
treasurer of the city, and be subject to the order of the board of education in 
the same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to this act. 

§ 175. It shall be the duty of the common council, within fifteen days af- 
ter receiving the certificate of the commissioners required by the 169 th section 
of this act, of the simis necessary or proper to be raised under the 167th sec- 
tion of this act, to determine and certify to said board of education the amount 
that will be raised by them for the year commencing on the first Monday of 
April thereafter, for the purposes mentioned in said 1 67th section, distinguish- 
ing between the amount to be raised for teachers' wages and contingent expen- 
ses, and the amount to be raised for the repair of school houses, which amounts 
shall be subject to the disposal of the board of education. ■ • 

§ 176. AH the moneys required tc* be raised by vu-tue of this act or re- 
ceived by the said city for or on account of the common schools, shall be de* 



m * 

posited for the safe keeping thereof with the city treasurer of said city to the 
credit of said board of education, and shall be drawn out in pursuance of a re- 
solution or resolutpins of said board by drafts drawn by the president and 
countersigned by the clerk of said board, payable to the order of the persoo 
or persons entitled to receive such moneys, and said city treasurer shall keef 
the funds authorized by this title to be received by him separate and distinct 
from any other fund wliich he is or may by law be authorized to receive. 

§ 177. The real and personal estate in each of the school districts, num- 
bers fourteen and sixteen, as at present existing shall be assessed toward de- 
fraying the expense of building a school house in each of said districts re- 
spectively as follows : Number fourteen, a sum not exceeding two thousand 
dollars, and number sixteen a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, and 
the balance, which may be found necessary to complete the school houses ix 
said districts fourteen and sixteen, respectively, shall be paid out of moneys 
authorized to be raised by section 167 of this act, to build and enlarge school 
houses. 

§ 178. The said board of education shall have power to establish and 
cause to be kept, such number of schools in said city for the instruction of 
colored children, as they shall deem expedient. 

§ 179. The said board of education shall possess all the power and be 
subject to all the duties and responsibilities of trustees of common schools ia 
the toT^-ns, in respect to the school mentioned in the last preceding section, s© 
far as the same are a'pplicable ; and shall pay the compensation of the teachers 
of the said schools, and all the other expenses thereof, out of the moneys rais- 
ed by tax under this act, for the sujjport of common schools ; and until suck 
schools for the instruction of colored children shall be so provided, it shall not 
be lawful to impose any tax upon the property of any colored person in said 
city, for the support of common schools. 

§ 180. Whenever the said board of education shall determine to establisk 
any schools for the instruction of colored children, they shall divide the said 
city into convenient districts for the accommodation of such children, and 
enter the boundaries thereof on their records ; they shall make an estimate of 
the expense of erecting a suitable school house in each of said districts, and 
determine the sites thereof respectively, and report all their doings under this 
section, to the common council. 

5^ 181. The common council shall'have power to raise by general tax, in 
the manner hereinbefore provided, and on a separate warrant, such sum as 
shall be necessary to build a school house in each of the said districts, or ir\aa 
many of them as they may deem expedient, not exceeding in the aggregate 
the sura of five thousand dollars, or the said common council may refuse t© 
raise such ta^c. 

§ 182. In case the common council shall refuse to raise such tax, the said 
board of education shall have power to provide, and lease suitable rooms or 
buildings for the accommodation of such schools, or either of them ; but the 
annual expenditure for this purpose shall not exceed the sum of five hundred 
dollars. 

§ 183. It shall be the duty of the trustees of the Rochester Obllegiate In- 
stitute to make the reports and returns which by law they are required t« 
make, as trustees of a school district, to the said board of education. 



SALEM. 

[Laws of 1851. Chap. 206.] 

§ 88. The board of trustees [of the village of Salem] aforesaid, shall, with- 
in twenty days after the passage of this act, appoint six coram' ssioners of 
schools. The persons so appointed, shall, within five days after their appoint- 
ment, take the oath of office prescribed by the constitution of this state for 
etate officers, and file the same with the cler*b. 

22 



338 

§ 89. The board of trustees shall divide the said commissioners into three 
classes, to be denominated first, second and third, and shall desiajnate to which 
class each person so appointed shall belong. The term of office of the first 
class shall expire on the last Monday in April next thereafter ; of the second 
in one year ; and the third, two years from the said last Monday in April. 

§ 90. Tliere shall be elected at the next annual election thereafter, two 
commissioners of schools, and each year thereafter the like number, to supply 
the places of those whose term is about to expire : such person so appointed 
or elected as aforesaid, shall hold their offices till successors shall be duly 
elected and qualified, and the term of office shall be two years, except whea 
elected or appointed to fill a vacancy. 

^91. The board of trustees may make appointments to fill vacancies, 
which may occur from any cause other than the expiration of the term of office 
of those elected. The commissioners' so appointed shall hold their offices for 
the imexpircd term of those, to supply whose places they are appointed. 

§ 92. The president of the board of trustees, together with the said com- 
missioners, shall constitute a board to be styled " The Board of Education of 
the A-illage of Salem," and shall be a corporate body in relaiion to all the 
powers and duties conferred or imposed by law. In the absence of said presi- 
dent,_ such board may appoint one of their number to preside. A majority of 
such baard shall be a quorum, No member of such board shall receive any 
compensation for his services. The clerk of said village shall be clerk of said 
board. 

§ 93. The clerk of said board of education shall keep a record of the pro- 
ceedings thereof, and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe ; 
such record or a transcript thereof, certified by such clerk under the seal of the 
said board, shall be presumptive evidence of the facts therein set forth ; and 
such record, and all the books, accounts and proceedings of said board, shall 
be subject to the inspection of said board of tnistces, and of any committee 
thereof. Such clerk shall also perform all the duties, and shall be vested with 
all the powers c^inferred or imposed by law on clerks of school districts in 
towns, so far as such laws may be applicable and can be applied to such vil- 
lage, and are not inconsistent with this act. He may appoint a deputy, who 
shall be vested with the same powers. 

§ 94. The boai-d of trustees aforesaid shall have power, and it shall be 
their duty, to raise from time to time by tax upon the taxable property and 
persons in such village, which shall be liable to taxation for county purposes , 
in addition to the amount now or hereafter to be provided by law for common 
schools in said village, such sums as may be determined and certified by said 
Ixiai'd of education to be necessary for any or all of the following purposes : 

1. To purchase, lea.se, or improve sites for school houses and appurtenan- 
ees. 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair scliool 
houses, and their out houses, and appurtenances. 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, 
maps and charts, furniture and appendages ; provided, however, that class or 
text books shall not be furnished for any scholars whose parent or guai'dian 
shall be able to furnish the same. 

4. To procm-e fuel and defray the contingent expenses of schools and of 
the school library. 

5. To pay teachers' wages. ■ 

6. To pay charges or expenses incurred by law or necessary to cany 
this act into efl^eet, or to refund loans contracted by law, and to pay the mter- 
est thereon, or to pay such sums as shall be required to fulfil any contract du- 
ly made under the provisions of this act. 

§ 95. The board of trustees shall cause the amount of such school tax to 
be added in a separate column, to the assessment roll fur oidinaiy taxes in 
said village; and they shall cause the same to be assessed, levied and collect- 
ed at the same time and by the same warrant, and in the same manner with 
the taxes raised for village purposes as aforesaid. 



389 

§ 96. All moneys raised for school purposes in said village and all belonging 
thereto, payable fiom other sources, shall be paid to the treasurer of naid vil- 
lage, who together with the sureties on hi.^ official bond, shall be aecfuin table 
therefor, in tlie same manner as for other moneys of the said village. The 
treasurer shall also be liable tf) the same penalties for any official misconduct 
in relation to such moneys, as for any similar misconduct in relation to other 
moneys of said villagen 

§ 97. The treasurer shall keep a separate account of all moneys in hi.s 
hands or received for school purposes, to be called the " school fund." 1 No 
payment shall be msdc out of that fund, except upon orders didy drawn in pur- 
suance of a resolution of said board of education, and certified by the clerk, and 
countersigned by the president of said board. The treasurer shall in his an- 
nual report, state fully the account of all receipt'^ and disbursements from that 
fund during the year, and the balance, if any, in his hands. His account as 
to the school fund shall be examined by the board of education, annuallj', 
who .'hall report thereon to the trustees. 

§ 98. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their 
duty : 

1. To establish and organize such and so many schools in said village, in- 
cluding the common schools therein, as they shall deem requisite and expedi- 
ent, and to alter and discontinue or change and consolidate the same. 

2. To purchase or liire school houses and rooms and lots or sites for school 
houses, and to fence, improve and repair them as they shall judge expedient. 

3. Upon such sites or lots, or upon any lots owned by said village, to build, 
enlarge, alter, improve and repair school houses, out houses and appurtenan- 
ces, as tliey may deem advisable. 

4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books 
for indigent pupils and for the school library, to provide fuel and lights, fur- 
niture and apj)endages for the schools, and defray their contingent expenses 
and the expenses of Ubrary. 

5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses and all the 
school property aforesaid, and to see tliat the ordinances of the board o 
trustees in regard thereto be observed, and to rejwrt to them any violatioa 
thereof. 

('). To contract with, examine, license and employ all teachers in the schools 
either high or common, and in all branches or departments thereof, and at 
their pleasure to remove them. 

7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the school moneys which 
shall be appropiiated and provided by the said village, so far as the sani'j 
shall be sufficient, and the re-idue thereof from the money authorized to be 
raised by this act by ta.x as aforesaid. 

8. To defray the necessaiy contingent expenses of the board of educa- 
tion, providefl that the account of such expenses shall be first audited and 
allowed by the board of trustees. ' . 

9. To have, in all respects, the superintendence, supervision and manage- 
ment of tlie schools aforesaid, to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they mav 
deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and 
instruction, for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one school to an- 
other, and generally for their good order, prosperity and public utility. 

10. Whenever, in the opinion of the board- of education, it may be advi- 
(>able to sell any of the school-houses, lots or sites, to report the same to the 
board of trustees. 

11. To prepare and report to the board of trustees such ordinances and 
regulations as may be necessary and proper for the protection, safe-keeping, 
care and preservation of property held for school purposes, and to suggest 
proper penalties for the violation thereof; and annually to determine and 
certify to said board the sums, in their opinion, necessary to be raised for the 
several school purposes specified in this act. 



340 

12. To provide for tbfe pftyment to any adjoining school district, or any 
person or persons entitled thereto, of any sum on account of such person, or 
or any part of said district being or having been included or connected with 
territory not now included in said village. 

13. Between the first day of July and the first day of August in each 
year, to make and tile with the eoiinty cleric and with the clerk of said vil- 
lage, a report in writing, bearing date the first day of July in such year, and 
fctatiog : 

1. An account and description of all the schools kept in said village 
duruig the preceding yeai-, and the time thej'' liave severally been 
tanght 

2 The number of children taught in said school respective'y, and designat- 
ing the number over five and under sixteen years of age, residing in said 
village on the first day of January in said year. 

3. The whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of 
said village during the year preceding, designating tlie amount received from 
the county treasurer, frimi the village collector and from other sources, speci- 
fying the same, 

4. The manoer in which such moneys have been expended and whether 
any part remained unexpended with tlie amount and cause thereof. 

5. The amount of moneys received for tuition fees from foreign pupils or 
otliers during the year ; tlie amount paid for teachers' wages in tlie aggre- 
gate, and the amount over and above the public moneys, together with such 
otlier facts as relate to common schools as is required by law to be reported 
by town superintendents, or as said board of trustees shall deem neces- 
sary. 

14. To establish, organize and maintain in said village, whenever In their 
opinion it shall be necessary a union or consolidated school, composed of 
primary and secondary schools and a high school, on such plan and under 
such discipline and management as they shall deem advisable ; and in such 
case to prescribe the course of studies therein, and so arrange and regulate 
the system of instruction in each of piiid schools, that the transfer of pupils 
shall thereafter be from the primary, directly into the secondary and thence 
into the high school or otherwise as they shall deem advisable. And for the 
piirpoees aforesaid, said board shall be vested with all the poAvers and charg- 
ed with all the duties and liabilities above specified in regai-d to schools 
generally. 

And said Inward may organize and maintain primary, secondary or high 
schools, or eitlier of them, in, or cause the same to be taught in connection 
with the Washington academy on such terms and conditions,^ and for such 
time not excediug ten yeai's, as shall be deemed expedient by and between 
said board of education and the trustees of such academy ; such management 
shall, if made, be by contract dul}^ executed by said parties, but no such 
contract shall b* made without tJie assent of the board of trustees of said 
>ill8ge ; and in such case said board of education arc vested Avith power to 
make sucli rules and regulations as they sJiall see fit as to the age or degree 
of scholarship rcquii'ed to enter said several departments, the compensation 
and payment therefor and other terms thereof, and the time of continuance 
therein. 

§ 99. Such board of education shall have a standing committee, consisting 
of not less than three members, whose duty it shall be to visit said schools, 
and each department thereof, as often as twice every term, and to make re- 
port in writing to said board in regard thereto. 

§ 100. The said board of education may permit children of persons not 
resident witliin sai<l village, to attend said scliools on such terms as they shall 
prescribe ; and s.iid board may, in the name of said village, sue for and re- 
cover of (he fatiieror mother, master or mistress, or other person imder whose 
charge such child or children may be, all such sums as shall bo so prescribed 
with costs of suit 



«S41 

J5 101. The Ixtard of education .shall be trustees *5f the district library or 
libraries in said villajje. All the provisions of law which now are or 
hereafter may be pawsed, relatinj^ to school district libraricH, fchall apply to 
the said commissioners and board of education, so far hh the same are appli- 
cable and can 1)0 applied, and arc not inconsistent with this act, in the :*am'i 
nianncir as if they were trustees of a school district cfimjxjsed of the t^aid vil- 
lage. They shall be vested with the discretion as to the disposition of libra- 
ry moneys, which is by law conferred upon the inhabitants of school districts 
and they may wmsolidate the said libraries, or dispose of parts thereof, as 
deemed best. It shall be their duty to provide a library room or rooms, 
:md the necessary furniture therefor, appoint a hbrarian, make all purchasea 
of books, exchange or cause to be repaired all damaged books, and sell those 
deemed useless or of an improper character, and apply the proceeds to the 
pui'chase of others. 

§ 102. No trustee of said village or member of said board of education 
shall be a contractor or be interested in any contract for building or making 
any erections or repairs authorized by this act, or furnishing materials there- 
for. All contracts made in violation hereof shall be void, so far as any ben- 
efit may be realized therefrom by the offender, and such person shall forfeit 
to said village lifty dollars, to be recovered by them before any court liaving 
cognizance of the same, with costs. 

§ 103. The board of trustees of said village may pass such ordinances 
and regulations as they may deem necessary, or as shall be rep^irted by said 
board of education, for the protection, safe keeping, care and maintenance of 
the sehool-house or other property connected with the schools or property 
held or occupied or used for* school purposes, and to impose penalties for the 
violation thereof, subject to the restrictions contained in this act; and all 
such penalties shall bo collected in the same manner as other penalties im- 
posed by said board, and when collected shall be paid to the treasurer, to the 
credit of the school fund, and be subject to the order of the board of educa- 
tion. 

104. Whenever the said board of education shall report to the trustees 
that it is advisable to sell any of the school property as aforesaid, the said 
trustees shall sell the same as scKjn as may be, and up<jn such terms as said 
tinistees shall deem best. The proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the 
treasurer, to the credit of the school fund. 

§ 105. Tlie title of the school house and other school property aforesaid, 
shall be vested in the trustees of the village of Salem ; and the same, while 
used or kept for use for school purposes, shall not be levied on or sold by vir- 
tue of any process, or be subject to taxation 'for any purpose ; nor shall the 
same be incumbered or in any way disposed of, except as authorized by this 
act. The said village, in its corporate capacity, may take, hold or dispose of 
any real or personal estate, transferred to it by gift, grantor device, for the 
use or benefit of said schools, or any of them, and whether the same shall be 
transferred, given, gi'anted or devised in terms to said village by its proper 
style, or by any other designation, or to any other designation, or to any per- 
son or persons, or body, or otherwise, for the use or benefit of saidschooLj or 
either of them. 

§ 106. The town superintendent of comramon schools of the town of Sa- 
lem, in making the apportionment of school or library moneys among the 
several districts in said town, shall allot to said village such sum as shall be 
its proportion of such moneys, considering such village as a regular school 
ilistrict of said town, and the report of the board of education as the report 
of its trustees. Such superintendent shall allot to said village, in the appor- 
tionment tolje made on the first Tuesday of ApriL 1851, such sum as school 
districts number eleven and twelve in said town would be entitled to, had 
said village not been consolidated into one district. All sums allotted an 
aforesaid shall be paid by said superintendent to the treasurer of said ril- 



342 

lage, to the credit of the school fund aforesaid, at the same time and in the 
same manner as to trustees of school districts in said town. 

§ 10*7. Said board of education shall between the first and fifteenth of 
January in each year, make and transmit a report in writing to the town 
superintendent of common schools of the town of Salem, bearing date on 
the first day of January in such year, and containing a statement of the name 
and age of each child residing in tlie said village, on the last day of Decem- 
ber previous to the date of said report, over the age of five, and under tliat 
of sixteen years of age, except Indian children othei'wise provided for by 
law; and the names of the parents or other persons with whom sucli cliil- 
dren shall respectively reside, and the number of children residing with each. 
Such report sliaU be the only report required to be made in order to entitle 
such allotment as required in the last section. Said schools in said village, 
and said bonrd of education, shall not in any other respect be bound to report 
to said superintendent ; nor shall such schools, or the teachers thereof, be in 
anywise under his control or supervision. 

§ 108. In ease said board of education shall contract with the trustees of 
the Washington academy as authorized in this act, tliey are further empow- 
ered to lease from said trustees the academy building and grounds adjacent, 
or contract for the joint or several occupation of the same, or so much there- 
of, or such privileges therein, or appertaining thereto, on such conditions, and 
for sucli time not exceeding two years, as they shall deem advisable. And 
they n:ay pay in advance to such trustees such gross sum for the rent there- 
of, for such term as being calculated with a proper rebate for the advance 
payment shall be deemed by said board, no more than a fair equivalent for 
the use and occupation thereof for the purposas required under this act. 
And such sum as shall be necessaiy for the purposes aforesaid, not exceeding 
one thousand dollars, may be loaned by the comptroller to said vilLage out of 
any moneys belonging to the common school fund, on receiving from the board 
of trustees of said village, the bond of said village therefor, payable in five 
equal payments with annual interest. The moneys received thereon shall be 
paid to the treasurer to the credit of the school fund, and shall be drawn out 
in the same manner as other moneys in that fund ; provided,' however, that 
no such conti'act shall be made, nor any loan obtained by said board of educa- 
tion, v.'ithout the previous assent of the board of trustees of said village. In 
case said loan shall be made, said trustees shall annually raise during each 
of said five years, by tax in the same manner, and at the same time as other 
village taxes are raised, such sura as over and above the expenses of collec- 
tion, will pay the several instalments, so to grow due on such loan, with the 
interest. 

§ 109. Any contract, lease or agreement made or executed by said board 
of education, with the trustees of the Washington academy under the pro- 
visions of this act, may be vacated, modified or renewed by the parties afore- 
said, by and with the assent of the board of trustees of said village ; provi- 
ded no renewal thereof shall be made for a term exceeding ten years at any 
one time. 

§ 110. All the property, real and personal, belonging to the districts, 
nimiber eleven and twelve, shall be and is hereby transferred to and vested 
in the ti-ustees of the village of Salem for school purposes ; and they are 
authorized to take the same into their possession, and hold, use and occupy 
the same, and exercise the same powers in regard thereto, as if they had 
purchased the same for school purposes under tliis act ; and the present trus- 
tees and ofiicers of said districts are hereby required to deliver possession 
thereof, and of all books, papers and vouchers connected therewith to said 
board, and said board may sue for and recover the same Avith costs of suit 
of any person having the same or any part thereof. 

§ 1 1 1. All debts and legal liabilities of said school districts number eleven 
and twelve, shall be audited, paid, satisfied and discharged by said board of 
education out of the school fund. 



343 

§ 112. Each and eveiy of the schools established or maintained under 
this act, shall be free to the children of all residents of said village ; provi- 
ded however, that said board of education may cause the tuition fee to be 
charged and collected of the father or mother, master or mistress, or other 
person (in wliose charge such pupil may be) residing in said village, of any 
pupil over sixteen years of age, or who shall pursue studies which said board 
shall deem sh(»uld not be tuition free. For the purpose of collecting such 
fees, such hoard shall by general rules provide for the keeping of proper reg- 
isters, in which shall be entered the name of every such pupil, and his father 
or nicither, n)aster or mistress, or other person in whose charge such pupil may 
be, the length of time such pupil shall attend sucli school, and the tuition 
fee chargeable therefor. Immediately previous to the issuing of the warrant 
for the collection of the annual village tax, said board of education shall 
cause to be presented to the board of trustees, an abstract from such registers 
containing a statement of names of every such father or mother, master or 
mistress, or other person residing in such village, from whom any sum or 
amount was due for such tuition fees, at the close of the term previous to 
the presentation of soch lists. The annual tax list shall contain a column 
headed "tuition fees," in which shall b» entered opposite the name of such 
person the amount so returnetl as aforesaid, which sum shall be included in 
the aggregate coluum to be collected under such warrant ; and the same pro- 
ceedings shall be had for the collection thereof as for other village taxes ; 
and when collected the same shall be [)aid to the treasurer, to the credit of 
the school fund ; but such return so made shall not include the name of any 
person who shall, in the opinion of the board, be in indigent circumstances ; 
any person specified in such return may at any time before the collection of 
said tuition fee. apply to said board of education for a remission of the same; 
and if said board shall deem proper, they may by resolution duly passed 
remit the same in whole or in part, and the clerk shall certify such remission 
to the collector, and no further proceedings shall be had for the collection of 
the sum so remitted. 

§ 113. Nothing in this act contained shall prevent the trustees of the 
Washington academy from receiving from the regents of the university any 
sum or allowance, fir pupils pursuing classical studies therein, or for organ- 
izing and maintaining a teachers' department therein. And any pupil in any 
of the departments organized in said academy under the provisions of this 
act, pursuing such classical studies as are required by the regents aforesaid, 
in order to be entitled to an allowance, and being of sufficient age, shall be 
included in the retmus fif said trustees to said regents, and they shall be 
entitled to the same allowance for such pupil or pupils as for other classical 
pupils heretofore. 

SCHENECTADY. 

[Laws of 1829, C/iap. 324.] 

§ I . Tlie amount of monies allowed to the city of Schenectady, by tlie 
superintendent of common schools, shall be apportioned by the treasurer of 
the county of Schenectady, between the Schenectady Lancaster school socie- 
ty, and such common school districts and parts of districts as now are or here- 
after may be organized without the bounds of the compact part of city of 
Schenectady, called the police ; and in a ratio proportioned to the number 
of children over the age of five and under sixteen [21] years within such com- 
pact part, and the number of such children in such districts and j^arts of dis- 
tricts respectively, withovtt such compact part 

§ 2. i'he treasurer of the county of Schenectady shall pay the amount 
thus apportioned to the Schenectady Lancaster school society, to its treasur- 
er, for the use of said society, and the amount thus apportioned to such 
school districts and parts of districts, to the commissioners of common 
chools for the several wards of the city of Schenectady. 



344 

§ 3. The commissioners of commoa schools for the several wards of the 
eaid city, shall distribute and pay to the trustees of such school districts and 
parts of districts, the amount so received by them from the county treasm-er, 
in proportion to the number of children residing in each, over the age of five 
and under that of sixteen [twenty-one,] years, as the same shall have ap- 
peared from the last annual report of their respective trustees. 

§ 4. The assessors of the several wards of the city of Schenectady, shall 
every year in their respective wards, take a census of the children between 
the ages of five and sixteen [twenty-one,] years, residing within the compact 
part of said city, and shall between the first day of May and the first day 
©f October, in each year, make and transmit a report of the same to the 
clerk of the county of Schenectady. 

§ 5. The reports required by law to be made by the trustees of the com- 
mon school districts and pai-ts of districts, without the bounds of the compact 
part of the city of Schenectady, to the commissioners of common schools, 
for the several wards of the said city, shall be verified by the affidavit of 
the said trustees. 

§ 6. The monies received by the treasurer of tlie county of Schenectady, 
from taxes collected in said city, under the laws relative to common schools, 
shall be apportioned by him between such common school districts and parts 
©f districts, without the bounds of the compact part of said city, and the 
Schenectady Lancaster school society, in the ratio proportioned to the 
amount of the assessments of the real and personal estates of the taxable 
inhabitants residing in such districts and parts of districts, and the assess- 
ments of all real estate situate therein and owned by persons residing out of 
euch districts and parts of districts, and the amounts of the assessments of 
the real and personal estates of all the taxable inhabitants of the city, after 
deducting thereout the aggregate of the assessments last mentioned. 

§ 7. The treasurer of the county of Schenectady shall pay the amount 
apportioned by virtue of the last preceding sections to the Schenectady Lan- 
caster school society, to its treasurer, for the use of said society, and the 
amount apportioned under said sections to such school districts and parts of 
districts, to the commissioners of common schools for the several wards of 
said city, which amount so paid to the said commissioners shall be distrib- 
uted and paid by them in the manner provided in the third section of this ■ 
act. 

§ 8. To enable the treasm-er of eaid county to make the apportionment 
required by the sixth section of this act, the assessors of the several 
wards of the city of Scheaectady shall annually, vv'ithin the time limited in 
the fom-th section of this act, for taking the census therein mentioned, make 
out and deliver to the treasm-er of said county, an abstract from the assess- 
ment rolls of their respective wards, containing the names and the amounts 
of the assessments , of the real and personal estates of each of the taxable 
inhabitants residing in the said school districts or parts of districts, together 
with the amount of the assessments of all real estate situate therein, and 
©wned by persons residing out of such districts or parts of districts. 

§ 151. [Rev. St. Chap. 15, Art. 1, Title 2, Part 1.] The commissioners of 
schools of the city, shall divide that portion of the territory of the first and 
second wards of the city, not comprised within the bounds of the police, into 
such number of school distiicts as they may deem convenient, and may al- 
ter and regulate such districts according to the provisions of this title, and 
the provisions of this title shall apply to all districts so established. 

§ 152. [Ditto.] It shall be the duty of the trustees of the Lancaster 
school society to make an annual report to the superintendent of common 
schools, in such form as shall be prescribed by him, of the state and condi- 
iion of the schools for whose benefit the school moneys shall have been ap-^ 
plied. 



345 

[Laws of 1839. Chap. 222.] 

§ 14. It shall be lawful for the trustees of the Lancaster school society 
in the city of Schenectady, to cause to be taught in any school or schools es- 
tablished by them or placed under their charge by the mayor, recorder and 
aldermen of said city, within the bounds of the police of said city, all such 
branches of education as may by law be taught in any common school in this 
state ; and that for teaching any such branches of education, it shall be law- 
ful for said trustees to adopt such mode of instruction as shall seem to tliera 
best adapted to attain the end of rendering the benefits resulting from the 
.school fmid more extensively useful and beneficial to the inhabitants of said 
city. 

§ 15. It shall be lawful for the common council of the city of Schenec- 
tady to expend, annually, any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars for the 
purposes of common schools and education generally thi'oughout the city ; 
and the said common council, for such purposes, may annually cause to be 
raised, by tax, any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, in the same man- 
ner as the taxes for repairing highways and supporting the poor are raised in 
and by the twenty seventh section of the act entititled, " An Act relative to 
the city of Schenectady," passed April 29th, 1833. 

SENECA. 

[Laws of 184:4:. C/top. 175.] 

§ 1. It shall be lawful for the trustees of school district number one, in 
the town of Seneca, in the county of Ontario, at the next annual meeting of 
the district after the passage of this act, to submit for the consideration of 
such meeting, a proposition, graduating the rates of tuition to be paid by 
scholars attending the different departments into which such school is now- 
divided ; if the same is approved, or shall be so amended as to be approved 
by a majority of those present qualified to vote in such meetings, such rates 
may be charged and collected, but they shall not be raised during the year 
next following their adoption. 

§ 2. At any annual meeting of the district after such rates of tuition have 
been adopted, the same may be raised, reduced or entirely abohshed, by a 
majority of such meeting. 

SYRACUSE. 

[Laws of 1848. Chap. 238.] 

AN ACT in relation to public schools in the city of Syracuse. 

Passed April 11, 1848, "three-fifths bemg present." 

The People of the State of New- York ^ represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

§ 1. There shall be appointed by the mayor and common council of the 
city of Syracuse, on the ihird Tuesday of April, eighteen hundred and forty 
eight, from each ward in said city, two commissioners of common schools for 
the said city, who shall be residents of the ward for which they are appoint- 
ed. The persons so appointed shall, within ten d lys after their appointment 
take the oath of office prescribed by the constitution of this state, and file the 
same with the city clerk. 

§ 2. Within ten days after their appointment, as in the last section men- 
tioned, said commissioners shall meet at Maxfeet Hall in said city, and cause 



346 

the said eommissioners so chosen to be divided into two classes, to be denom- 
inated '■ first" and " second" classes. The term of office of the first class shall 
expire at the end of one year from the second Tuesday of March, eighteen 
hundred and forty-eight ; of the second class at the end of two years from 
the said second Tuesday of March, eighteen hundred arid forty eight. 

§ 3. There shall, in like manner, in each year thereafter, be elected one 
commissioner of schools for each ward of said city, to supply the places of 
those whose term of office is about to expire ; they shall hold their offices 
for two years, and until thi-ir successors are elected, and have taVen the oath 
of office. The term of office of all commissioners elected pursuant to the 
provisions of this act, shall commence on the first Tuesday after their elec- 
tion. Said election shall take place at the time of the general charter elec- 
tion of said city in each and every year thereafter, and shall be subject to 
all the provisions in regard to said election, so far as the same may be appli- 
cable, as are contained in the charter of said city, passed on the lith Decem- 
ber, 1847. 

§ 4. The common council of said city may make appointments of com- 
missioners of common schools to fill vacancies which may occur from any 
cause other than the expiration of the term of office of those elected. The 
commissioners so appointed shall hold their office for the unexpired term of 
those to supply whose places they were appointed 

§ 5. Any commissioner of common schools in said city may be removed 
from office for official misconduct by the common council thereof, by a vote 
of two thirds of the members thereof, but said commissioner shall be allow- 
ed an opportunity to refute any such charge of misconduct, before remo- 
val. 

§ 6. The commissioners of common schools in said city shall constitute a 
board, to be styled the " Board of Education of the city of Syracuse," which 
shall be a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties conferred 
upon them by virtue of this act. A majority of the board shall form a quorum. 
At their first meeting after an election, they shall elect one of their number 
President, and whenever he shall be absent a president pro tempore may be 
appointed, but sucli president shall only have a casting vote. They shall also 
appoint a clerk and fix his compensation, and who shall hold his office during 
the pleasure of the board. The said commissioners shall receive no compen- 
sation for their services. They shall have the care of the gospel and school 
lands and securities taken therefor in said city. 

§ 7. The clerk of said board shall keep a record of the proceedings there- 
of, and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe ; which record, 
or a transcript thereof, certified by the president and clerk, shall be received 
in all courts as prima facie evidence of the facts therein sat forth ; and such 
records, and all the books and accounts of the said board, shall, at all times, 
be subject to the inspection of the common council and of any committee 
thereof. 

§ 8. The common council of the said city shall have the power and it 
shall be their duty, to raise, from time to time, by tax upon the real and per- 
sonal estate in said city which shall be liable to taxation for the ordinary city 
taxes, or for city or county charges, in addition to the amount of school mon- 
ies now or hereafter appropriated or provided by law for common schools in 
said city, such sums as may be determined and certified by the said board 
of education to be necessary or proper for any or all of the following pur- 
poses : 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses. 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school- 
houses, and their out-houses and appurtenances. 

3. To pm-chase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, 
furniture and appendages, but the power herein granted shall not be deemed 
to the furnishing of class or text books for any scholar whose parent or guar- 
dian shall be able to furnish the same. ' • 

4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the common 
chools, and the expenses of the dastrict librai'y of said city. 



347 , 

5. To pay the wages of teachers due after the application of the pub- 
lie moneys, which may, by la^, be appropriated and provided for that pur- 
pose: Pr.vided, nevertheless, that such tax shall not be laid oftener than 
once in each year : 

6. Nor shall the amount to be raised fi>r teachers' wages and contingent 
expenses in any one year be less than twice nor more than six times the 
amount of public money received during the previous year. Nor shall (he 
amount to be raised in any one year for buying sites and erecting and repair- 
ing S' hool-huu.ses and the appurtenances, exceed one thousand five hundred 
dollars. 

§ 9. The common council shall cause the amoirat of the tax at any time 
ordered to be raised in pursuance of this act, to be added to the amount 
wliich they are otherwise authorised by law to I'aise by tax in said city, and 
they shall cause the same, with the collector's fee thereon, to be assessed, lev- 
ied and collected at the same time and by the same warrant, and in I lie same 
manner with the taxes raised for city expenses, under and by virtue of the 
act of incorporation of said city. 

§ 10. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and 
all school moneys by law appropriated to or provided for said city, shall be 
paid to the treasurer of said city, who, together with the sureties upon hig 
official bond, shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as for other 
moneys of the said city ; the said treasurer shall also be liable to the same 
penalties for any official misconduct in relation to the said moneys as for any 
similar misconduct in relation to other moneys of the city. 

§ 11. After the passage of this act the treasurer of the said city shall 
not pay out any moneys in his hands received by the said city, either as 
school moneys or collected or received by virtue of any of the provisions of 
this act, cxceptiug upon an order drawn upon him and sis^ned by the presi- 
dent and clerk of said board of education, and no such order shall be drawn 
except by virtue of a resolution of the said board. 

§ 12. The said board may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted in the 
name of the city of Syracuse, upon the official bond of the treasurer or of 
any collector of said city for any default, delinquency or official misconduct 
in relation to the collection, safe keeping or payment of any moneys in this 
act mentioned. 

§ 13. The said board shall have power and it shall be their duty, 

1. To establish and organize such and so many schools in said city, (in- 
cluding the common schools now existing therein) as they shall deem requi- 
site and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same. 

2. To purchase or hire school houses and rooms, and lots or sites for 
school houses, and to fence and improve them as they deem proper. 

3. Upon such lots, and upon any sites now owned by said city, to build, 
enlarge, alter, improve and repair school houses, out houses and appurtenan- 
ces as they may deem advisable. 

4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books for 
indigent pupils, furniture and appendages, and to provide fuel for the schools 
and defray their contingent expenses, and the expenses of the district li- 
brary. 

5. To have the custody and safe keeping of the school houses, out houses, 
books furniture and appendages, and to See that the ordinances of the com- 
mon council in relation thereto be observed. 

6. To contract with, license and employ all teachers in the common school 
and high school, and at their pleasure to remove them. 

7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the school moneys which 
shall be appropriated and provided in the said city, so far as the same shall 
be sufficient, and the residue thereof from the money authorised to be raised 
for that purpose by section eight of this act, by tax upon said city. 

8. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including 
an annual salai-y to the clerk, provided that the account of such expenses 
shall first be audited and allowed by the common council. 



348 

9. To have, in all respects, the superintendence, supervision and manage- 
ment of the common schools in said city, and from time to time to adopt, al- 
ter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations 
for their organization, government and instruction, for the reception of pupils 
and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for the promotion 
of their good order, prosperity and public utility. 

10. Whenever, in the opinion of the board, it may be advisable to sell 
any of the school houses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now 
or hereafter belonging to the city, to report the same to the common coun- 
cil. 

1 ! . To prepare and report to the common council such ordinances and 
regulations as may be necessary or proper for the protection, safe keeping, 
care and preservation of school houses, lots and sites, and appm-tenances, and 
all the property belonging to the city connected with or appertaining to the 
schools, and to suggest proper penalties for the violation of such ordinances 
and regulations ; and annually to determine and certify to said common 
council the sums in their opinion necessary or proper to be raised under the 
eighth section of this act, specifying the sums required for each of the pui'po- 
ses therein mentioned, and the reasons therefor. 

12. To provide for the payment to any adjoining school district the proper 
amount to which it may be entitled on account of such district, in whole 
or in part, having been connected with territory now included in the said 
city. 

13. Between the first day of Jxily and the first day of August in each 
year, to make and transmit to the county clerk a report in writing, bearing 
date the first day of July in the year of its transmission, and stating, 

1 . An account and description of all the common schools kept in said 
city during the preceding year, and the time they have been severally 
taught. 

2. The number of children taught in said schools, respectively, the number 
of children over the age of five and under the ag6 of sixteen, [21] residing 
in said city on the first day of January of that year. 

3. The whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of said 
city during the year preceding, distinguishing the amount received from_ the 
county treasurer, from the city collector, and from any other source. 

4. The manner^in which such moneys had been expended, and whether 
any and what part remains unexpended and for what cause. 

5. The amount of money received for tuition fees from foreign pupils dur- 
ing the year, and the amount paid for teachers' wages, in addition to the pub- 
lic moneys, with such other information as relates t(f the common schools of 
said city. 

§ 14. Every school commissioner shall visit all the public schools at least 
four times each year during his official term ; and the board of education 
shall provide that each of said schools shall be visited by a committe ;0f 
three or more of their number at least once every, term. 

§ 1 5. The said board of education shall have power to allow the children 
of persons not resident within the city to attend any of the schools of said 
city under the care and control of said board, upon such terms as said boai'd 
shall, by resolution, prescribe, fixing the tuition which shall be paid there- 
for. 

§ 16. Any collector of the said city, and his sm-eties, shall be liable on 
his official bond for any default, dehnquency, neglect or misconduct in the 
duties with which he may be charged under or by virtue of this act, in the 
same manner and with the like effect as for any other ofiicial default, delin- 
quency, neglect or misconduct ; and such collector shall be liable to the same 
penalties for any such ofiicial as for any similar misconduct in relation to any 
other duties of his office. 

§ 17. It shall be the duty of the said board in all their expenditures and 
contracts, to have reference to the amount of moneys which shall be subject 
. to their order during the then current year, for the particular expenditui.e in 
question, and not to exceed such amount. 



349 

§ 18. The said b^rd of commissioners shall be trustees of the district li- 
brary or libraries in said city, and all the provisions of Jaw which now are or 
may hereafter be passed relating to district school libraries, shall apply to the 
paid commissioners in the same manner as if they were trustees of a school 
district compi-ehending said city ; they shall also be vested with the discre- 
tion as to the disposition of the moneys appropriated by any law of tliis state 
for the purchase of libraries, which is therein confen-ed upon the inhabitants 
of school districts. It shall be their duty to provide a library room or rooms 
and the necessary furniture therefor, and appoint a librarian or librarians, -to 
make all purchases of books for the said library or libraries, and from time to 
time to cxchang'e or cause to be repaired the damaged'books belonging there- 
to ; they may also sell any books which they may deem useless or of an improp- 
er character, and apply the proceeds to the purchase of other books for the said 
library or libraries. 

§ 19. It shall be the duty of the said board, at least fifteen days before 
the annual election for commissioners in each year, to prepare and report to 
the common council true and correct statements of the receipts and disburse- 
ments of moneys under and in pursuance of the provisions of this act during 
the preceding year ; in which aecoimt shall be .stated under appropriate 
heads : 

1. The moneys received by the common council under the eighth section of 
this act : / 

2. The school moneys received by the treasurer of the city from the coun- 
ty treasurer, and the collector of taxes for city and county charges in said 
city . 

3. The moneys received by direct tax : 

4. All other moneys received by the treasurer, subject to the order of the 
board specifying the sources : 

5. The manner in which such sums of money shall have been expended , 
specifying the amount paid under each head of expenditure : 

And the common council shall, ten days before such election, cause the 
same to be published in at least two of the newspapers published in said 

city., 

§'20. Tlie said board shall be subject, from time to time, to the rules and 
regulations made by the state superintendent of common schools, so far as the 
same may be applicable to them, and not inconsistent with the provisions of 
this act. 

§ 21. The common council of said city shall have the power, and it shall be 
thc-ir duty, to pass such ordinjincos and regulations as the said board of edu- 
cation may report a.s necessary and proper for the protection, safe-keeping, 
care and preservation of the school houses, lota, sites, and appurtenances, and 
all necessary property belonging to or connected with the schools in said city ; 
and to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the restric- 
tions and limitations contained in the act to incorporate the snid city ; and all 
such penalties shall be collected in the same manner that the penalties for a 
violation of the city ordinances are by law collected, and when collected, shall 
be paid to the treasury of the city, and be subject to the order of the board 
of education, in the same manner as other money* raised pursuant to the pro- 
visions of this act. 

§ 22. Whenever the said board shall report to the common council that it 
is advisable to sell any of the school house.s, lots or sites, or any of the school 
property now or hereafter belonging to the city, it shall be the tluty of the 
common council to sell the same without unreasonable delay and upon such 
terms as the said common council may deem advisable. The proceeds of all such 
sales .shall be paid to the treasurer of the city, and shall be subject to the or- 
der of the said board, to be expended by them in the purchase, leasing, re- 
pairs or improvements of -other school houses, lots, school fiu-niture, apparatus 
or appurtenances. 

§ 23. The title of the school houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus 
and appurtenances, and all other school property in this act mentioned, shal'. 



350 

be vested in tlie city of Syracuse ; and the same while use^jl for or appropriated 
for school purposes, shall not be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant 
or execution, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever ; and the 
said city, in its corporate capacity, shall be able to take, hold, and dispose of 
any real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, 
for the use of the common schools of the said city, whether the same shall be 
transferred in terms to said city, by its proper style, or by any other desig- 
nation, or to any other designation, or to any person or persons or body, for 
the use of said schools. 

§ 24. All moneys required to be raised by virtue of this act, shall, on be- 
ing raised as herein provided, be deposited for the safeheeping thereof, with 
the treasurer of said city, to the credit of the said board of education, and shall 
be drawn out in pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, by 
drafts drawn by the president and countersigned by the clerk of said boai'd, 
payable to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive such moneys ; 
and said treasurer shall keep the funds aiithorized by this act to be received 
by him, separate and distinct from any other fujid which he is or may by law 
be authorized to receive. 

§ 25. It shall be the duty of the said commissioners to ascertain and re- 
port to the common council of said city the amount of any and all indebted- 
ness of each of the school districts within said city, and to whom due, and 
when and how payable ; and the common council shall have the power, and it 
shall be their duty, in each year that any such indebtedness shall become due, 
or any portion thereof, to cause the amount so becoming due from any of said 
districts, to be assessed upon and collected from the taxable property within 
such districts, in the same manner as the taxes for contingent expenses are 
assessed and collected, for the use of the boai'd of education, for the payment 
of such indebtedness. 

§ 26. It shall be the duty of said commissioners, and they shall have pow- 
er to procure a site within school distinct number sixteen (16) in the city of 
Syracuse, and cause to be erected thereon a suitable and projjer school house, 
and cause a statement of the cost of siich site and building to be laid before the 
common council of said city, who shall have power, and it shall be their duty 
to cause the sum of one thousand five hundred dollars to be assessed uponand 
collected from the taxable property within said district, in the same manner 
that the contingent expenses of said city are assessed and collected ; and in 
case the said expenditure shall exceed the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, 
the said excess shall be collected from the city at large, for the use of the said 
commissioners for the purposes in this section specified. 

§ 27. It shall be the duty of the clerk of said city immediately after the 
election of any person as a commissioner of common schools, to personally no- 
tify him of his election, and if any such person sliall not within ten days after 
receiving such personal notice of his election, take and subscribe the constitu- 
al oath and file the same with the clerk of the said city, the common council 
may consider it a refusal to serve, and proceed to supply the vacancy occasion- 
ed by such refusal ; and the person so refusing to serve shall forfeit and pay 
to the city treasurer, for the benefit of the tuition fund, a penalty of ten 
dollars. » 

§ 28. The present school officers of the school districts in the territory 
embraced in this act, shall continue in ofilce until the unfinished business of 
said districts shall have been finally closed up and settled, with all the pow- 
ers and duties now by law unposed u]X)n them, for the purpose of closing up 
such unfinished business. 



851 

TROY. • 

[Laws of I&'IO. Cliap. 198, as amended by Chap. 47, laws of 1851.] 

AN ACT to amend the charter of the city of Troy, and to protide for the 
establishmetit of free schools m said city. 

Passed April 4, 1849, "three-fifths being present." 

§ 1. The several wards of the city of Troy shall constitute one school 
district, and the schools therein shall be free t<^ all children, between the 
ages of five and sixteen [21] years, residing in Fuch wards. 

g 2. There shall be erected in each of the said wards as hereinafter 
provided, one or more school houses of size and form sufficient to accommo- 
date all the children between tne aforesaid ages, residing in such wards. 
The purchase of sites for school houses shall be agreed upou in joint commit- 
tee of three from each ward, hereinafter mentioned ; and in ease of disagree- 
ment the decision shall rest with the common couneiL 

S 3. The title of the school houses, sites, lots, furniture, books apparatus 
and appurtenances, and all other school property, in this act mentioned, shall 
be vested in the city of Troy, and the same while used or appropriated for 
school purposes, shall not be levied upon, or sold by virtue of any warrant 
or execution, nor be subject to taxation, for any purpose whatever, and the 
said city in its corporate capacity, shall be able to take, hold, and dispose of 
any real or personal estate, transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, 
for the use of the common schools of the said city, whether the same shall 
be transferred in terms to said city by its proper style, or by any other desig- 
nation, or to any person or persons, or body, for the use of said schools. 

§ 4. The common council of said city, may, upon the recommendation of 
the board of education hereinafter mentioned, sell any of the school houses, 
lots, or sites, or any other school property, now or hereafter, belonging to said- 
city, upon such terms as the said common council may deem reasonable. The 
proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the chamberlain of the city, and 
shall be by the said board of education again expended in the construction, 
repairs, or improvements of other school houses, lots, sites or school furniture, 
apparatus or appurtenances. 

§ 5. There shall be elected at the annual charter election of said city, to 
be held on the first Tuesday of March, 1850, in the same manner as other 
ward officers are elected, from each of the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th arid 7th wards in 
said city, two persons, and from each of the 5th, 6th, and 8th wards thereof, 
one person, to be commissioners of common schools for said city. The per- 
sons so elected shall be residents of the ward for which they shall be elected, 
and shall within ten days after receiving notice of their election, take the oath 
of office prescribed by the constitution of tliis state, and file the same witli 
the city clerk. 

§ 6. Within ten days after their election, as in the last section mention- 
. od, said commissioners so elected from those wards in which moi'e than ope 
'commissioner is elected, shall meet in the office of the clerk of said city, and 
shall determine by lot which of the two persons so elected fo^ each ward shall 
serve for the term ending on the second Tues-^ay of March, 1851, and which 
for the term ending on the second Tuesday of March, 18-52. 

§ 7. In each year, thereafter, there shall be elected in said «ity, at the an- 
nual charter election in the same manner, and under the same regulations, as 
other ward officers are elected, one commissioner of common schools for each 
ward, to supply the jilaees of those whose terms are about to expire. The 
term of office of all commissioners elected pursuant to this act, shall commence 
on the Tuesday next after their election, and shall continue two years, except 
of those commissioners elected from the 4th, 6th and 8th wards, whose term 
of office will continue but one year. 



352 

§ 8. The common council of said city make may make appointment of 
commissioner of common schools to fill vacancies which may occur from any 
cause other than the expiration of the term of office of those elected, and the 
removal from the ward for which he was appointed or elected shall be deem- 
ed a resignation of his office by any conamissioner. The commissioners so ap- 
pointed sliall hold their offices till the Tuesday succeeding the next annual 
election, and at each annual election there shall be elected a commissioner to 
supply the place of any person so appointed, and the person thus elected shall 
serve out the unexpu-ed term. 

§ 9. Any commissioner of common schools in said city, may be removed 
from office for official misconduct by the common council of said city, by a 
vote of two-thirds of the members thereof ; but a written copy of the char- 
ges against said commissioner, shall be served upon him, and he shall be al- 
lowed an opportunity to refute any such charge of misconduct, before removal. 

§.10. ITie commissioners of common sclfools in said city, shall constitute a 
board, to be styled the " Board of Education of the city of Troy," whicli 
shall be a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties conferred 
upon them by virtue of this act. A majority of the board shall form a quo- 
rum. The first meeting of the board shall be on the second Wednesday next 
after their election, and the annual meeting of the board, thereafter, shall be 
on the second Wednesday next after their election. At the first meeting of 
the boai'd, and annually thereafter, at the annual meeting, they shall elect 
one of theii' number president of the board ; and whenever he shall be ab- 
sent, a president pro tempore may be appointed. The said commissioners 
shaU receive no compensation for their services. 

§ il . The said commissioners shall appoint a clerk "who may be one of 
their mamber, who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the board, and 
whose compensation shall be fixed by them. The said clerk shall keep a re- 
cord of the proceedings of the board, and perfprm such other duties a^ the 
board may prescribe ; the said record or a transcript thereof, certified by the 
president and elerk, shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of 
facts therein set forth ; and such records and all the books, accounts, vouch- 
ers, and papers of said board shall at all times be subject to the inspection of 
the common council, and of any conamittee thereof. 

^ 12. The common council of said city shall have the power, and it shall 
be their duty to raise from time to time by tax, to be levied equally upon all 
the real and personal estate in said city, which shall be liable to taxation for 
the ordinary city taxes, or for city or county charges, such sum or sums of 
monev, as may be necessary or proper, for any or all the following purposes : 

1. To purchase school houses, and also to piu'chase, lease or improve sites 
therefor. 

2. To enable the board of education to build, lease, enlarge, alter, improve 
and repair school houses, and their out houses and appm'tenances. 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, fur- 
niture and appendages ; but the power herein granted, shall not be deemed to 
authorize the furnishing with class or text books any scholar whose parents 
or guardian shall be able to furnish the same. 

4r. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the common*' 
aehools, and the expenses of the school libraries of said city. 

5. To pay the wages of teachers due after the application of the public 
monies, which may by law be appropriated aod provided for that purpose : 
Provided, nevertheless, that the tax to be levied, as aforesaid, and collected 
by virtue of this act, shall be collected at the same time, and in the same man? 
ner as other city taxes. 

6. And the amount to be raised for teachers' wages and contingent ex- 
penses in any one year, bhaU not be less than twice, nor more than fourtimes 
the amount apportioned to said city, from the common school fimd of the state 
diiring tlie previous year, nor shall the amount to be raised in one year, after 
the 1st Tuesday in March, 1851, for purchasing sites and erecting and repair- 



363 

'ing sdiool houses exceed five thousand dollars. And the common council of 
said city are authorized and directed when necessary, to raise by loan in an- 
ticipation of the taxes, the moneys so to be raised, collected and levied as 
aforesaid. 

§ 13. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and 
all school moneys by law appropriated to, or provided for said city, shall be 
paid to the chamberlain thereof, who together with the sureties upon his of- 
ficial bond, sliall be accountable therefor, in the same manner as for other mon- 
eys of said city ; the said chamberlain shall be liable to the same penalties 
for any official misconduct in relation to the said moneys, as for any similar 
misconduct in relation to other moneys of said city. 

§ 14. The said board shall have powei", and it shall be their duty, 

1. To establish and organize, in the several wards of said city, such and 
so many schools, (including tlie common schools now existing therein) aa 
they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the 
■same. 

2. To build, lease, or contract for the occupation and use of school houses 
and rooms, and to improve the same as they may deem proper. 

3. To alter, improve and repair school houses and appui'tenances as they. 
may deem advisable. 

4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books for 
indigent pupils, furniture and appendages, and to defray their contiugent ex- 
penses, and the expense of the school libraries. 

5. To have the custody and safe keeping of the school houses, out houses, 
books, furniture and appendages, and to see that the ordinances of the commoE 
council in relation thereto be observed. 

6. To contract with, license, and employ all teachers in said schools, and 
•at their pleasure to remove them. 

7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriated and 
pi'ovided by law, for the support of schools in said city, so far as the same 
shall be sufficient, and the residue thereof, from the money authorized to he 
raised for that purpose by section twelve of this act, by tax upon said 
•city. 

8. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including aa 
•annual salary to the clerk, provided the account of such expenses shall fii-st be 
•audited and allowed by the common council. 

9. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, and manage- 
, ment of the common schools jnsaid city, and from time to time to adopt, alter, 

■modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for 
their organization, government and instruction, for the reception of jJupils, and 
their transfer from one school to another, and generally for the promotion of 
their good order, prosperity and public utility. 

10. Whenever, in the opinion of the board it may be advisable to sell anv 
of the school houses, lots, or sites, or any of the school property, now or here- 
after belonging to the city, to report the same to the common council. 

11. To prepare and report to the common council, such ordinances and 
" ?-egulations as may be necessary or proper for the protection, safe keeping, 

.•care and preservation of school houses, lots and sites and appurtenances, mid 
all the property belonging to the city, connected with or appertaining to the 
schools, and to suggest proper penalties for the violation of such ordinances 
and regulations ; and annually, on or before the first day of February in each 
year, to determine and certify to said common council, the sums in their opin- 
ion necessary or proper, to be raised under the twelfth section of this act, 
specifying the sums required for the' year commencing on the ffi-st of Mai'ch 
thereafter, for each of the purposes therein mentioned, and the reasons 
therefor. 

12. Between the fii-st day of July, and the first day of August, in eaeh 
year, to make and transmit to the county clerk, or such other officer as mav 
be designated by law, a report in writing beaiing date the first day of Julr 
ia the year of its transmission, and stating, 

33 



354 

1. The number of school houses in said city, and an account and descrip' 
tion of all the common schools kept in said city during the preceding year, 
and the time they have severally been taught. 

2. The number of children taught in said schools respectively, and the 
number of children over the age of five years, and under the age of sixteen 
[Ul] years, residing in said city, on the first day of January, of that year. 

3. The whole amount of school moneys received by the chamberlain of said 
city during the year preceding, distinguishing the amount received from the 
county treasurer, from the city tax, and from any other source. 

4. The manner in which such moneys had been expended, and whether 
any and what part remains unexpended, and for what cause. 

5. The amount of money received for tuition fees from foreign pupils du- 
ring the year, and the amount paid for teachers' wages in addition to the pub- 
lic monies, with such other information relating to the common schools of 
said city, as may from time to time be required by the state superintendent 
of common schools. 

§ 1 5. It shall be the duty of each commissioner to visit the schools in his 
ward twice in each year ; and the board of education shall provide that each 
of the schools in the city shall be visited by a committee of three, or more of 
their number, or by their clerk, at least once in each term. 

§ 16. The said board of education shall have power to allow the children 
of persons not resident within the city to attend any of the schools of said 
city under the care and control of said board, upon such terms as said board 
shall bj resolution prescribe, fixing the tuition which shall be paid there- 
for. 

§ 17. It shaU be the duty of said board, in all their expenditures and 
contracts, to have reference to the amount of moneys which shall be subject 
to their order, dm-ing the then current year, for the particular expenditure in 
question, and not to exceed that amount. 

§ 18. The said board of commissioners shall be trustees of the school li- 
brary or libraries in said city, and all the provisions of law which now are or 
hereafter may be passed relative to district school libraries, shall apply to the 
said commissioners ; they shall also be vested with the same discretion as to 
the disposition of the moneys appropriated by any law of this state, for the 
purchase of libraries which is therein conferred upon the inhabitants of school 
districts. It shaU be their duty to provide a libraiy room, or rooms, in the 
several school houses in said city, and the necessary furniture therefor. The 
clerk of said board shall be the general librarian. The board shall also appoint 
a librarian for each school, to have the care of the books, and to superintend 
the letting out and return thereof The several school librarians shall from 
time to time, inform the general librarian of the state and condition of iheir 
libraries, and the said board or the general librarian, under the direction and 
by resolution of the said board, rnay make all purchases of books for the li- 
braries, and provide for their equitable distribution among the schools, and 
exchange or cause to be repaired the damaged books belonging thereto, and 
alsp sell any books which may be deemed useless, or of improper character, 
and apply the proceeds to the purchase of other books for said libraries. 

§ 19. It shall be the duty of said board, at least fifteen days before the 
annual election for commissioners in each year, to prepare and report to the 
common council, true and coiTect statements of the receipts and disbursements 
sf moneys under and in pursuance of the provisions of this act, during the pre- 
ceding year ; in which account shall be stated under appropriate heads : 

1. The monies raised by the common council under the twelfth section of 
this act*. 

2. The school moneys received by the chamberlain of the city, from the 
«ounty treasurer, distinguishing between the sum received from the state and 
the sum raised upon the city by the board of supervisors : 

3. The moneys received by the common council under the third section 
of this act : 

4. All other moneys received by the chamberlain subject to the order of 
the bosjrd, Bp,ecifjing the sources. 



355 

5. The manner in which such sums of money shall have been expended, 
specifying the amount paid under each head of expenditure : 

And the commori couneU. shall, ten days before such election, cause 
the same to be published in at least two of the newspapers publis^hed in 
said city. 

§ 20. The common council of said city shall have the power to pass such 
ordinances and regulations as the said board of education may report as ne- 
cessary and proper for the protection, safe keeping, care and preservation of 
the school houses, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages, libraries, and 
all necessary property belonging to, or connected with the schools in said 
city ; and to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the 
restrictions and limitations contained in the act to incorporate the said city ; 
and all such penalties shall be collected in the same manner that the penal- 
ties for the violation of the city ordinances are by law collected, and when 
collected, shall be paid to the chamberlain of the city, and be subject to the 
order of the board of education, in the same manner as other moneys, raised 
pursuant to the provisions of this act. 

§ 21. It shall be the duty of the common council, within fifteen days after 
receiving the certificate of the commissioners required by the fourteenth sec- 
tion of this act, of the sums necessary or proper to be raised under the twelfth 
section of this act, to determine and certify to said board of education the 
amount that will be raised by them for the year commencing on the 1st of 
March thereafter, for the purposes mentioned in said twelfth section, distin- 
guishing between the amoimt to be raised for teachers' "wages and contingent 
expenses, and the amount to be raised foi' the repair of school houses, which 
amounts shall be subject to the disposal of the board of education. 

§ 22. All the moneys required to be raised by virtue of this act, or re- 
ceived by the said city, for or on account or the common schools, except such 
sums as are raised for the purchase of sites for school houses, shall be depos- 
ited for the safe keeping thereof, with the chamberlain of said city, to the 
a-edit of said board of education, and shall be drawn out in pursuance of a 
resolution or resolutions of said board, by drafts dra\vn by the president and 
countersigned by the clerk of said board, payable to the order of the person 
or persons entitled to receive such moneys ; and said chamberlain shall keep 
the funds authorized by this act to be received by him, separate and distinct 
from any other fund, which he is, or may by law be authorised to j-eceive. 

§ 23. It shall be the duty of the clerk of said city, immediately after the 
election of any person as a commissioner of common schools to personally or 
in writing, to notify him of his election, and if any such person shall not with- 
in ten days after receiving such notice of his election, take and subscribe the 
constitutional oath, and file the same with the clerk of the said city, the com- 
mon council may consider it a refusal to serve, and proceed to supply the va- 
cancy occasioned by such refusal ; and the person so refusing, shall forfeit, 
and pay to the city chamberlain, for the benefit of the tuition fund, a penalty 
of ten dollars. 

§ 24. It shall be the duty of the several school districts in the city of Ti-oy, 
within three months from the passage of this act, to transfer and convey to 
said city all school houses, sites, lots, and all other school property of what- 
ever name and description, and to place in the care of the board of education, 
all school district records, account books, vouchers, contracts, papers, and oth- 
er school property, and the said school oflScers of the said city and the sever- 
al school districts thereof, shall continue in office until the unfinished busi- 
ness of said districts shall have been finally closed up and settled, not exceed- 
ing three months after the passage of this act, with all the power and duties 
now by law imposed upon them, for the purpose of closing such unfinished 
business. 

§ 25. The common council of the city of Troy shall, on the third Thurs- 
day of April, 1849, appoint from each ward in said city commissioners of com- 
mon schools for said city, corresponding in number with the aldermen elected 
from said wards, who shall hold their office until the second Tuesday of March, 



356 

1850 • the said persons so appointed shall be residents of the ward for which 
they shall be appointed, shaU during the time of their appointment consti- 
tute said board of education, and possess the same power and privileges, per- 
form the same duties, and be subject to the same regulations as the commis- 
sioners to be elected under this act. Then- first meeting shall be on the 
fii-st Wednesday after their appointment. _ 

S 26. The said commissioners so appointed, shall, m addition to the other 
duties required of them by this act, on or before the fii-st day of June, 1849, 
determine and certify to the common council in the manner designated by the 
fourteenth section of this act, the sums necessary and proper to be raised by 
said city for the purposes mentioned in said twelfth section, for the year com- 
mencing on the 1st of March, 1849. The said common council shall,_ within 
fifteen days after receiving said certificate, determine and certify to said com- 
missioners in the manner specified in the twenty-first section, the amounts 
that will be raised by them, which amounts shall in like manner be subject to 
the disposal of said commissioners. 

8 2'7 . All previous acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith, are here- 
by repealed. 

\Ghap. 353, laws of 1850, as amended by chap. 366 laws of 1851.] 

8 1. It shall be lawful for the board of education of the city of Troy, and 
the said board is hereby authorized, to discharge all the duties and exercise all 
the powers belonging to the oflice of town superintendent of common schools 
by law, in relation to the formation of joint school districts out of parts of 
said city, and parts of adjoining towns, and also in the erection of sepaj-ate 
school districts, as hereinafter provided, in either the fifth, sixth, and seventh 

wards of said city. . • • , j- 

8 2. Whenever it may become necessary or convenient to lorm a joint oia- 
trict out of parts of said city and of any adjoining town, the board of educa- 
tion may depute any member of said board or the clerk thereof, to meet with 
the superintendent of such adjoining town, and the proceedings of such mem- 
ber of said board, or the clerk thereof, and such town superintendent, ua con- 
formity with the statute, duly certified under their hands, in forming, regula- 
ting and altering any such districts, shall be valid and conclusive, when ap- 
proved by said board at any meeting regularly convened. 

S3 The-said board of education may, in its discretion, upon the wi'itten 
application of at least two-thirds of the inhabitants, entitled by law to vote 
in school district meetings, residing within the territory to be included there- 
in erect separate school districts, and from time to time regulate and alter the 
same in either the fifth, sixth and seventh wards of said city. Such separate 
school districts, when so erected, and the joint districts provided for m the sec-' 
ond section of this act, when so formed, shall severally enjoy aU the rights 
and privileges and be subjectto all the duties and habilities of school districts 
legally formed in the several towns of this state, and shall be no longer under 
tlie care and government of said board of education. 

S 4. It shall be the duty of the trustees of all such joint and separate dis- 
tricts as shall be formed and erected in pursuance of this act, to make to 
the board of education of said city, all the reports and retm-ns which are 
or may be by law required in the several towns of this state to be made to 
the town superintendents thereof. It shall be the duty of the said board of 
education to apportion to each of the parts of such joint districts lying withm 
said city, and to each of such separate districts, from all the public fchooi 
moneys that shaU thereafter be apportioned and paid to the city, whether 
the same shall be received from the state school moneys or from Iha taxes di- 
rected By law to be levied and collected for that purpose, the just proportion 
of such moneys according to the number of children residing withm such 
parts of said joint districts as shall lie witliin said city, and withm said sep- 
arate districts, between the ages of five and sixteen years inclusive making 
the whole number of such children residing within tne city the basis tor 
such apportionment, as the same shall appear from the last reports thereof. 



357 

§ 5. It shall be the duty of the board of supervisor a of the county of Rens- 
selaer, from and after the passage of this act, to direct that all the moneys levi- 
ed and collected on the inhabitants of the city of Troy for cummon school 
purposes, whether the same shall be levied and collected as county taxes or 
otherwise, shall be paid owit by the receiver of taxes for said city, to the 
chamberlain thereof, for the sole use and benefit of the free pubUc schools 
within said city, and it shall be the duty of the board of education to apply 
all such moneys to the support of the free schools of said city in conformity 
to law. 

[Chap. 366, laws of 1851.] 

§ 2. Every ward in the city of Troy, and each portion of a ward in which 
a public school is now, or may hereafter, be maintained, shall constitute a 
school district, under the supervision and direction of the board of education, 
of said city. 

UTICA. 

[Laws 0/1842, chap. 137, as amended by chap. 131, latos of I8i4t. Chap. 184, 

Title X, laws of 1S4S, and chap. 66, laws of 1850.] 

AN" ACT in relation to common schools in the city of Utica. 

Passed April 7, 1842, by a two-third vote. 

The People of the State o{ N'ew -York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do .Enact as follows : 

§ 1. At the next annual election for city officers to be held in the city of 
Utica, there shall be elected six commissioners of common schools for the said 
city, who shall be elected in the same manner as justices of the peace, su- 
pervisors and constables are elected in said city pm-suant to the act incorpora- 
ting said city. 

§ 2. Within ten days after their election, the persons so elected shall take and 
subscribe the oath of office prescribed by the constitution, and file the same with 
the clerk of said city ; and they or a majority of them shall thereupon meet and 
cause the whole number of commissioners so chosen to be divided into three 
classes, to be severally numbered first, second and third. The term of office ' 
of the first class shall expire at the end of one year, of the second class at • 
the end of two years, and of the third class at the end of three years ; but 
each class shall continue in office until their successors are elected, and have 
taken the oath of office. 

§ 3. At every annual election for city officers in said city after the next, 
there shall in like manner be elected two commissioners of common schools, 
to supply the places of those whose term of office is about to expire ; they 
shall hold their office for three years, and until their successors are elected, and 
have taken the oath of office. The term of office of all commissioners elect- 
ed pursuant to the provisions of this act, shall commence on the first Mon- 
day after the first Monday in March next succeeding their election. 

§ 4. The common council of said city may make appointments of commis- 
sioners of common schools, to fill vacancies which may occur from any cause 
other than the expiration of the term of office of the person elected. The 
commissioners so appointed, shall hold their office for the unexpired term of 
those to supply whose places they are appointed. 

§ 5. Any commissioner of common schools in said city may be removed 
from office for official misconduct, by the common council thereof, by a vote 
of two-thu-ds of the members thereof. 

§ 6. The commissioners of common schools in said city shall constitute a , 
board t be styled the " Commissioners of Common Schools in the city of Utica," 
which shall be a corporate body in relation to all the powers aod duties con- 



358 

f en-ed upon them V virtue of this act ; a majority of the board shall form 
a quorum. At their first meeting after each annual city election, they shall 
elect one of their number chairman, and whenever the chairman shall be ab- 
sent from a meeting of the board, they may appdnt a chairman pro tempore ; 
they shall also elect a clerk "who shall hold his office during the pleasure of 
the board ; the said commissioners shall receive no compensation for their 

services. t .i, 

§ 1. The clerk of said board shall keep a record of the proceedings there- 
of, which record, or a transcript therefrom, certified by the chairman and , 
clerk, shall be received m all courts as prima facie evidence of the facts 
therein set forth ; and such records, and all the books, papers, and accounts 
of the said board, shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the common 
council, and of any committee thereof. 

§ 8. The common council of the said city shall have the power, and it 
shall be their duty, to raise from time to time by tax upon the real and per- 
sona* estates in said city, which shall be hable to taxation for the ordinary 
city taxes, or for town or county charges, ^uch sums as may be determined 
and certified by the said board of of commissioners, to benecessaiy or proper 
for any or all of the following purposes ; 

1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school houses ; 

2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school hous- 
es and then- out houses and appurtenances : 

3. To purchase, exchange, improve, and repair school apparatus, books, 
furnitm-e and appendages : 

4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the common 
schools, and the expenses of the district library of said city, and the contin- 
gent expenses of said board of commissioners including the salary of the 
clerk of said board, aad to meet any deficiency which shall occur in the pay- 
ment of the wages of teachers of the said schools, after applying to the pay- 
ment thereof, the school moneys appropriated and provided in said city, and 
the tuition fees which shall be collected as hereinafter provided ; which shall 
be in addition to the amount of school moneys now or hereafter appropriated 
or provided by law, for common schools in said city ; provided, nevertheless, 
that such tax shall not be laid oftener than once in each year; and that the 
whole amount to be raised shall not in any one year exceed the sum of thi-ee 
thousand dollars. 

8 9. The common council shall cause the amount of the tax at any time 
ordered to be raised in pursuance of the last section, to be added to the 
amount which they are otherwise authorized by law to raise by tax m said 
city, and they shall cause the same, with the collectors' fees thereon, to be as- 
sessed, levied and collected at the same time by the same warrant, and in the 
same manner with the taxes raised for city expenses, under and by vntue of 
the forty-fourth section of the act to incorporate said city. 

§ 10. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisionsof this act, and 
all school moneys by law appropriated to or provided for said city, shall be 
paid to the treasurer of the said city, who together with the sureties upon his 
official bond, shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as for other 
moneys of the said city ; the said treasurer shall also be liable to the same 
penalties for any official misconduct in relation to the said moneys, as for any 
similar misconduct in relation to the other moneys of the city. _ 

8 11. After the passage of this act the treasurer of the said city shall not 
pay out any monevs in his hands received by the said city, either as school 
moneys, or collected or received by virtue of any of the provisions of this act, 
excepting upon an order drawn upon him, and signed by the chairman and 
clerk of the said board of commissioners, and no such order shall be drawn 
except by virtue of a resolution of the board. , . .,. 

8 12. The said board may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted m the 
name of the city of Utica, upon the official bond of the treasurer, or of any 
collector of the said city, for any default, delinquency or off.cial misconduct m 
relation to the collection, safe keeping or payment of any moneys in this act 
mentioned. 



• 359 

§ 13. The said board shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1. To establish ard organize such and ao many common schools in said city, 
(including tlie common and free schools now existing therein) as they shall 
deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same. 

2. To purchase or hire school houses, and rooms and lots or sites for school 
houses, and to fence and improve them as they deem proper. 

3. Upon such lots or sites, and upon any sites now owned by said city, to 
build, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school houses, out houses and appur- 
tenances as they may deem advisable. 

• 4. To piu-chase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, fur- 
niture and appendages, and to provide fuel for the schools, and defray their 
contingent expenses and the expenses of the district library. 

6. To have the custody and safe keeping of the school houses, out houses, 
apparatus, books, furniture and appendages, and to see that the ordinances of 
the common council in relation thereto be observed. , . 

6. To contract with and employ all teachers in the common schools and at 
their pleasure to remove them. 

I. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the school moneys which shall 
be appropriated and provided in the said city, so far as the same shall be suf- 
ficient, and the residue thereof from the tuition fees they shall be authorized 
to collect or receive as herein provided ; and in case the said school moneys 
and tuition fees shall be insufficient to pay such wages, then to pay the de- 
ficiency out of the moneys to be raised by the common council of said city in 
pm'suanee of the eighth section of this act. 

8. To fix the rate of tuition fees in said schools at a sum not exceeding 
two dollars per term, v/hich shall be a period of not less than eleven weeks, 
and to designate a person or persons to whom the same may be paid pre- 
vious to issuing a warrant for the collection thereof, and to exempt from the 
payment of the whole or any part of the tuition fees, such persons as they may 
deem entitled to such exemption, for indigence or any other sufiicient cause, 
and cause a list of the persons so exempted, with the extent of their exemp- 
tion, to be kept by the clerk of the board. 

9. To defray tlie necessary contingent expenses of the board, including an 
annual salary to the clerk, which shall nqt exceed one hundred dollars, provi- 
ded thai the account of such expenses ^hall first be audited and allowed by 
the common council. 

10. After the end of each school term to make out a rate bill containing 
the name of each person liable to pay tuition fees, who shall not have paid 
them (prior to the making out of such rate bill) to the person or persons des. 
ignated by the board for that pm'pose, and the amount for which such person 
is liable, addding thereto a sum not exceeding five cents on each dollar of the 
sum due, for collector's fees, and to annex to such rate bill a wan-ant for the 
collection tliereof. 

II. To deliver such rate bill, with the warrant annexed, to one of the col- 
lectors of taxes of said city, who shall execute the same in like manner and 
with like elect, with the other warrants for the collection of taxes placed in 
his hands ; or lu ti"-i discretion, to deliver the same to a collector to be ap- 
pointed by said board of commissioners, who shall, if required by said board, 
execute to said commissioners in their corporate capacity, a bond, with one or 
more sureties, to be approved by said commissioners, or a majority of them, 
which bond, as to its penalty and conditions, shall be the same as is by law 
required to be executed by the collectors of school districts ; and the said 
board of commissioners shall have the same power and authority in regard to 
said bond and the collection thereof, as the trustees of school districts have by 
law, in regard to the bonds given by collectors of school districts ; and the 
eaid collector shall have the same power in the execution of said warrant, that 
the collectors of taxes of said city have by virtue of this act. 

12. To have in all respects the superintendence, super visiim and manage- 
ment of the common schools m said city, and from time to time to adopt, al- 
ter, modify and rep«al, as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for 
their organization, government and instruction, for the reception of pupils and 



360 

their ti-ansfer from one school to another, and generally for the promotion of 
their good order, prosperity and public utility. 

13. "Whenever, in the opinion of the board, it may be. advisable to sell any 
®f the school houses, lots br sites, or any of the school property now or hereaf- 
ter' belonging to the city, to report the same to the common council. 

14. To prepare and report to the common council such ordinances and re- 
gulations as may be necessary or proper for the protection, safe keeping, care 
and preservation of school houses, lots, sites and appurtenances, and all the 
property belonging to the city, connected -with, or appertaining to the schools 
and to suggest proper penalties for the violation of such ordinances and regu- 
lations ; and annually to determine and certify to the said common council 
^e sums in their opinion necessary or proper to be raised under the eighth 
section of this act, specifying the sums required for each of the several pm*- 
poses therein mentioned. 

15. To imite with the commissioners of schools of any adjoining town, and 
form, regidate and alter any district out of any portion of the said city and 
stich town, whenever they shall deem it necessary and proper to do so, in 
which case, so far as such district or districts are concerned, and said board 
shall, during the existence of such districts, have the same powers and duties 
which the commissioners of schools in towns have. 

16. Between the first day of July and the first day of August in each year, 
to make and transmit to the county clerk a report in winting, bearing date the 
first day of July in the year of its transmission, and stating, 

1. The whole number of districts separately set off within the said city, 
in pursuance of subdivision fifteen of this section : 

2. An account and description of all the common schools kept in said 
«ity dining the preceding year, and the time they have severally been 



3. The number of children taught in the said schools respectively, and th« 
Dumber of children over the age of five and under sixteen [21] years residing in 
the city on the first day of January of that year : 

4. The whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of the 
said city during the preceding year, distinguishing the amount received 
from the county treasurer, from the town collector, and from any other and 
what source : 

5. The manner in which such moneys have been expended, and whether 
any and what part remains unexpended, and for what cause : 

6. The amount of money received for tuition fees during the year, and the 
amount paid for teachers' wages, in addition to the public moneys with such 
ether information as the superintendent of common schools may from time to 
time require. 

§ 14. All persons collecting or receiving tuition fees pursuant to the des- 
ignation, or the warrant of the said board, shall be liable for all moneys thus 
collected or received by them in the same manner as collectors are for mon- 
eys received by them for taxes, and any collector of the said city, and his 
sureties shall be liable upon his ofiicial bond, for any default, delinquency, neg- 
lect or misconduct, in the duties' with which he may be charged under or by 
virtue of this act, in the same manner and with the hke effect as for any other 
©fficiar default, delinquency, neglect or misconduct ; and such collector shall 
also bo liable to the same penalties for any such official misconduct as for 
any similar misconduct in relation to any other duties of his oflice. 

I 1 5. _The warrant annexed to any rate bill pursuant to the provisions of 
this act, shall be under the hands of the commissioners, or a majority of them, 
and shall conimand the collector to collect from every person in such rate bill 
named, the sum therein set opposite his name, and in case any person so nam- 
ed, shall not pay such sum on demand to levy the same, together with the 
fees of said collector, by distress and sale of goods and chattels of the person 
who ought to pay the same, or of any goods and chattels in his possession, 
wheresoever the same may be found in the city of Utica, and to make return 
©f such warrant to the treasurer of said city, within thirfcy days after the da- 
livery thereof. 



361 

§ 16. Such warrauts shall have the like force and eflFect as warrants issued 
by the boards of supervisors to the collectors of towns, and the collectors of 
the said city ai'c authorized to collect the amount due from any person or per- 
sons in the said city, in the same, manner and with the same power that col- 
lectors of a school district have for the collection of tax or rate bills issued by 
the trustees of school districts. 

§ 17. The board of commissioners shall possess the same powers which the 
ti'ustees of school districts have for the collection of tuition fees, which shall 
not be collected by the warrant issued by them with rate bills, and subject to 
the same regulations ; and they may in like manner as the trustees of 
school districts, correct and amend errors in making out any rate bill, and refund 
to any person any sum improperly collected in consequence of such error. 

§ 18. It shall be duty of the said board in all their expenditures and con- 
tracts to have reference to the amount of moneys which will be subject to 
their order during the then current year, for the particular expenditures in 
question. 

■§ 19. The said board of commissioners shall be the trustees of the district 
library in said city, and all the provisions of the act entitled, " An act re- 
specting the School District Libraries," passed April 15, 1839, and all other 
laws wliich now are or may Jiereafter be passed relating to district school li- 
braries, shall apply to the said commissioners in the same manner as if they 
were trustees of a school district comprehending the said city ; they shall 
also be vested with the discretion as to the disposition of the moneys appro- 
priated by the fourth section of chapter two hundred and tliirty-seven, of the 
Statues of eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, which is therein conferred up- 
on the inhabitants of school districts. It shall be their duty to provide a li- 
brary room and the neces'Bary library furniture, and appoint a librarian, to 
make all piurchases of books for the said library, and from time to time to ex- 
change or cause to be repaired damaged books belonging thereto ; they may 
also sell any books which "they deem useless, or of improper character, and 
apply the proceeds to the purchase of other books for the said hbrary. 

§ 106. [Title X, chap. 184, laws of 1849.] The board of commissioners 
of common schools may from the moneys received by tliem for the school dis- 
trict library, defray the contingent expenses of the hbrary and the salary of 
the librarian, and apply such portion of it as they may deem proper to the 
payment of teachers' salaries. 

§ 20. It shall be the duty of said board, at least fifteen days before the 
annual election for city officers in each year, to prepare and report to the 
common council true and correct statements of the receipts and disbursements 
of moneys under and in pursuance of the provisions of this act during the pre- 
ceding year ; in which account shall be stated under appropriate heads, 

1. The moneys raised by the common council under the eighth section of 
this act : 

2. The school moneys received by the treasm-er of the city from the coim- 
ty treasurer and the collector of taxes for town and county charges in said 
city : 

3. The moneys received for tuition fees : 

4. Alll other moneys received by the treasm-er subject to the order of the 
board, specifying the sources : 

5. The manner in which such moneys shall have been expended, specifying 
the amount paid under each head of expenditure ; 

And the common council shall, ten days before the said election cause the 
same to be published, with the statement required to be published by the 
thirty-tlui-d section of the act to incorporate the said city. 

§ 21. The said board shall be subject to the rules and regulations from 
time to time made by the superintendent of common schools so far as the same 
may be applicable to them, and not inconsistent with the provisions of this 
act. 



362 

§ 22. The eommon council of said city shall have the power, and it shall 
be their duty to pass such ordinances and regulations as the said board of 
commissioners may report as necessary and proper for the protection, safe 
keeping, care and preservation of the school houses, lots, sites, and appurte- 
nances, and all the necessary property belonging to or connected with the 
schools in said city ; and to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof, 
subject to the restrictions and limitations contained in the act to incorporate 
the said city ; and all such penalties shall be collected in the same manner 
that the penalties for violation of the city ordinances are by law collected ; 
and when collected shall be paid to the treasm-er of the city, and be subject 
to the order of the board of commissioners, in the same manner as other mon- 
eys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. 

§ 23. Whenever the said board shall report to the common council that it , 
is advisable to sell any of the school houses, lots or sites, or any of the school 
property now or hereafter belonging to the city, it shall be the duty of the 
common council to sell the same without unreasonable delay, and upon such 
terms as the said council may deem advisable. The proceeds of all such sales 
shall be paid to the treasurer of the city, and shall be subject to the order of 
the said board, to be expended by them in the purchase, leasing, repairs or 
improvements of other school houses, lots, school furniture, apparatus or ap- 
purtenances. 

§ 24. The title of the school houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, ajsparatus 
and appurtenances, and all oth«r school property herein before in this act 
mentioned, shall be vested in the city of Utica ; and the same while used for 
or appropriated for school purposes shall not be liable to be levied upon or 
sold by virtue of any warrant or execution, nor be subject to taxation or as- 
sessment for any purpose whatsoever -and the said city in its corporate ca- 
pacity shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate, 
transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise for the use of common schools 
of the said city, whether the same shall be transferred in terms dii'ectly to 
said city by its proper style, or by any other designation or to any other des- 
ignation, or to any person or persons or body, for the use of said sehools. 

§ 25. All former acts and parts of acts in relation to common and free 
schools in the said city, inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby 
repealed. 

[Chap. 66,_ Laws of 1850.] 

§ 1. Tlie board of school commissioners of the city of Utica shall annual- 
ly prepare an estimate of the amount of money necessary to be raised in the 
said city, for the then ensuing year, for the payment of teachers' wages, ex- 
clusive of the public money and the money required by law to be raised by 
the county and town by the act establishing free sehools throughout the state, 
and present the same to the board of supervisors of Oneida county, (at their 
annual meeting,) who shall cause the same to be levied and collected from 
the said city in the same manner as other town taxes ; but the sum to be 
raised by vhtue of this section, shall not in any year exceed twice the sum 
apportioned to the city from the state school moneys. 

§ 2. The said board of commissioners shall appoint a superintendent of 
eommon schools for the city, to hold his office during the pleasure of the 
board, and to perform such duties in the care and oversight of the schools in 
the city as it may charge him with. He shall be paid such compensation for 
his services as the board shall from time to time determine, which shall be 
audited and allowed, as other town charges are in the said city. 



363 
WILLIAMSBURGH. 

[Laws of 1851, Chap. iVl.] 

AN" ACT in relation to common schools in the city of Williamshurr/h. 

Passed April 14, 1851, " tliree-fifths being preseut." 

The People of the State of New-Yorh, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

§ 1. The trustees? of common schools in the city of "WilHamsburgh, hold- 
ing office at the passage of this act, whose term, under the provisions of 
chapter one hundred and eighty-one, laws of eighteen hundred and forty-four, 
would expire in May, eighteen hundred and fifty-two, shall hold office until 
the fii'st Monday in January, eighteen hundred and fify-two, and no longer. 
The trustees so holding office, whose term would expire in May, eighteen 
hundred and fifty-three, shall hold office until the first Monday in January, 
eighteen hundred and fifty-three, and no longer. And the trustees who shall 
be elected at the annual district meetings in May, eighteen hundred and 
fifty -one, shall hold office until the first Monday in January, eighteen hundred 
and fifty-fom-, and no longer. 

§ 2. At each'annual election for charter officers hereafter to be held in 
said city, there shall be chosen in each ward, one trustee of common schools, 
whose term of office shall commence on the first Monday in January next 
succeeding his election, and continue thi-ee years. All persons qualified to 
vote for members of the common council in said city, shall be entitled to vote 
for school trustees, and the election shall be conducted in the manner pre- 
scribed by law for other elections ; provided, that a separate box shall be 
provided in each election district, to receive the yotes of electors for said 
trustees, and that the ballots used in such election, shall be endorsed " school." 
Vacancies in the office of school trustee shall be filled at the election next 
succeeding their occurrence ; but persons chosen to fill the same, shall hold 
office only for the residue of the term brolien by the oceun'ence of such 
vacancy. All persons shall be eligible to the said office, who may be eligible 
by law to the common council. 

§ 3. Tlie three school trustees of each ward, in office at the same time, 
shall manage and control the common Schools of such ward, in conformity to 
the provisions of this act, and the laws of this state. 

§ 4. The trustees of common schools of the several wards of said city, 
shall in joint meeting, form a board of education. The said board shall 
have the general supervision of the schools of said city, and shall have power 
to make such rules for determining the qualifications of teachers in said 
schools, and ensm'ing uniformity of books and school discipline, as they may 
deem best for the interests of education. The said board shall maintain 
schools for colored children, and shall have power to establish, manage, and 
control evening schools, using for such purpose, such school-house or school- 
houses as they may elect ; and when the same may appear to be demanded 
by the wants of the people, they may establish, manage and control an 
academy or high school. The board of education shall make its own by- 
laws, not inconsistent with the laws of this state ; and shall choose from 
their own number, annually, a president, and also a clerk, who shall keep a 
faithful record of the proceedings of the board. 

§ 5. The several boards of school trustees shall by or before the first 
Monday of March in each year, prepare and file with the city clerk, a detaO- 
ed estimate of the necessary expenses of conducting the schools in their 
wards respectively for the year commencing on the first day of May follow- 
ing, specifying in such estimate, the amount necessary for teachers' wages, 
for books, for maps, and other school apparatus, for fuel, for ordinary repairs 
of school houses, for contingent expenses, for salary of librarian, for the main- 
tenance and moderate increase of the libraries, for furniture, for deficiencies 



364 

of previous appropriations. The board of education shall in like manner, file 

with the city clerk, an estimate of the amounts necessary for their contingent 
expenses, and for conducting the schools for colored children, evening schools, 
and academy maintained by them, specifying the branches of appropriations 
and the amounts necessary for each as in the case of the ward schools. 

§ 6. The city clerk shall within ten days after the period named in the 
preceding section issue notice to the members of the school board of finance 
to meet at an appointed time and place within ten days after the date of 
his notice. The school board of finance shall accordingly meet and consider 
the estimates submitted to them as hereinafter provided, adjourning from 
time to time as they may see fit ; provided, that they shall make a final 
decision respecting said estimates previous to the first Monday of May. The 
said school board of finance shall have power to reduce, reject, or increase 
the sums named in the said estimates as they may think reasonable and 
expedient ; and having determined upon the amount necessary, in their opin- 
ion, for the proper management and support of the schools in each ward, they 
shall file a statement under the hands of their president and clerk, with the 
trustees thereof, setting forth in detail said necessary amount, and the par- 
ticular purposes for which said money shall be used. Having determined 
upon the amount necessary for the proper management and support of the 
schools for colored childi'en, the evening schools, and the academy maintain- 
ed by the board of education, and for the contingent expenses of said board, 
they shall file a statement thereof, similarly detailed, with the president of the 
board of education. They shall also file duphcates of said statements with 
the city comptroller and city treasurer. . 

§ 7. The gross amount of money which the said school board of finance 
shall so certify to be necessary for school purposes, less any balance of pre- 
vious appropriations for such purposes remaining unexpended in the treasury 
and the amount of the distributive share of state school money to which the 
said city shall be entitled, and including a sufiicient amount to entitle the city 
to such distributive share, shall be added by the common council of the said 
city to the amount of taxes to be levied by the ■« tor the year, upon the real 
and personal property of the city ; and shall be paid with other monies raised 
by tax, to the city treasurer. The treasm-er shall disburse the same only by 
the order and on the warrant of the school trustees of the several wards, or 
of the board of education by its president and clerk, as the case may be, 
di"awn in favor of the person entitled to payment, and specifiying the partic- 
ular purpose to which the money is to be apphed. The treasurer shall honor 
such drafts only so far as the specific appropriations by the school board of 
finance shall allow. 

§ 8. The school board of finance shall consist of the mayor of the city 
the members of the city board of finance, who are not members of the com- 
mon council and the trustees of common schools. The board shall choose a 
president from its own number. The city clerk shall be the clerk of said 
board, and shall keep a faithful record of its proceedings, entering the yeas 
and nays on every vote upon an appropriation. A majority of the school 
trustees, with a majority of the members of the board, shall be a quortm 
for the transaction of business, but a less number may adjourn from time 
to time. 

§ 9. When the purchase of real estate, or the erection of an edifice for 
school or academy purposes may be decided by the board of education to be 
necessary, they shall file the vote by which such decision shall have been made, 
including an estimate of the extreme amount of money necessaiy for such 
purchase or erection, with the city clerk who shall lay the same at its next 
meeting before the common council of the said city. If said common coun- 
cil after due deliberation, shall also determine the same to be expedient, the 
said common council shall lay before the people, at the next election, the 
question whether they approve of the proposed erection or purchase ; and if 
a majority of the ballots cast for and against such proposition shall prove to 
be in fav or thereof, the said common council shall take measures to carry the 



365 

same into effect. And for tliis purpose the said common conncil shall have 
power to add the necessary amount to the annual taxes, provided that they 
may at their discretion, divide such amount into yearly instalments, aud 
make temporary Ibans in anticipation thereof. 

§ 10. The title of the property now held by the several school districts 
of the town of William sburgh, aud of all real estate and buildings pm-chased 
and erected under this act, shall vest in the city of Williamsburgh ; and no 
such property shall be sold or otherwise diverted from use for educational 
purposes, without the recommendation or consent of the board of education. 
In case of such sale or diversion, the value of such property shall be appUed 
to the purchase or erection of other property for educational purposes, or to 
the reduction of taxes for school purposes, as inay be recommended by the 
board of education. 

§ 11. If by any imforseen casualty, damage shall occur to the buildings 
held by the city for educational purposes, beyond the amount properly ap» 
propriated for repairs of such buildings, the common coimcil shall cause such 
damage to be repaired, and make special appropriations therefor. If such 
damage occur by tire, and is covered by insurance, the treasurer shall collect 
the insurance ; and the amount appropriated by the common council to pay 
for repairs of damage to buildings, less the amount, if any, received on account 
of insvH'ance in ease said damage occur by fire, shall be added by the common 
council to the annual taxes next to be levied by them. 

§ 12. The city comptroller shall cause to be and keep insured, all build- 
ings held, by tlie city for school purposes, for a sufficient amount, in a compa- 
ny or companies of good standing ; and the expense of such insurance, if 
upon a ward school house, shall be paid by the warrant on account of con- 
tingent expenses of the school trustees of the ward in which such school 
house is situated ; and if upon a building used for a school for colored chil- 
dren, or for an academy, by the warrant on same account of the board of 
education. 

§ 1 3. The office of superintendent of common schools for the town of 
"Williamsburgh, is hereby abolished. The sums to which the schools of said 
city shall be entitled by the laws of this state, and which would be paid to 
such superintendent for distribution, shall be paid to the treasurer of the city 
of "Wilhamsburgh. 

§ 14. Tlie president of the board of education, shall make frequent vis- 
itations of the schools and academy, if such there be, of said city, reporting 
from time to time to the board their condition, and the measures necessary 
in his opinion, to improve tlieir efficiency and usefulness. 

§ 15. The common schools of the city of "\yillianisburgh, shall be free to 
all children of said city, between the ages of five and sixteen y eai s inclu- 
sive ; provided, that a separate school or schools for colored children shall be 
maintained by the board of education. The said board shall prescribe the 
tei-ms of admission to the evening schools and to the city academy, if any 
shall be estabUshed under this act ; but they shall not make the payment of 
any 'money for entrance or tuition necessary to such admission. 

§ 16. Tlie office of district clerk is hereby abolished. ITie books and 
papers in the hands of the clerks of the several school districts of said city 
at the expiration of the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, shall 
be placed in the hands of the school trustees of the corresponding wards. 
The said trustees shall keep correct records of their proceedings, and have 
the custody of all tlie papers and records relating to their several wards, 
exeep; the deeds and muniments of title to the real estate held for school 
purposes, which shall be deposited with the city comptroller. 

§ 17. The term of office of the librarians of the several school districts 
of the town of Williamsburgh, slmll expire on the first Monday in January, 
one thousand eiglit hundred and fifty-two ; and the ^chool trustees of each 
ward shall annually thereafter appoint a librarian. The said trustees shall 
continue to maintain a public library, which shall be free to all inhabitants 
of the ward exercising the sume powers in regard to them with which they 



366 

are now by law invested. The public money designated as " libi'ary money," 
shall with other public money as provided by section thirteen of this act be 
paid to the city treasurer ; but so much only of such library money shall be 
appropriated to the purchase of library books or school apparatus as may be 
required by the trustees of the several wards and authorized by the school 
board of finance as jDrovided in section five and section six of this act. 

§ 18. The monies paid or payable under chapter 181, laws of eighteen 
hundred and forty-four, to the trustees of the several school districts of the 
said city before the first day of May, eighteen hundred and fifty-two, shall 
continue to be held and disbursed by them until that time. The said trus- 
tees shall then render to the city comptroller a full and correct account of 
their- receipts and disbursments for the previous year, and shall jjay over to 
the city treasurer any school monies remaining in their hands. 

§ 19. The common council of the city of Williamsburgh shall provide 
for the payment of loans lawfully made by the several school districts, so far 
as the same shall not be paid by appropriations made previous to the first 
day of May, eighteen hundred and fifty-two. And for this purpose they 
shall have power to add the necessary amount to the annual taxes of said 
city. 

§ 20. The said common council shall have power to borrow money tem- 
porarily in anticipation of taxes for school purposes as for other purposes. 

§ 21. The board of assessors for said city for the year eighteen hrmdred 
and fifty -two shall estimate the value of the real estate of said city held for 
school purposes in each ward, deducting therefrom the amount of indebted- 
ness due or chargeable upon such property on the first day of May, eighteen 
hundred and fifty-two, and shall determine the ratio which said value beare 
to the whole assessed valuation of the real and personal property in such 
ward. They shall file with the city comptroller a statement of such value 
and ratio ; and if such ratio shall vary in the several wards, the common 
council of said city shall gradually, at their discretion, so discriminate in levy- 
ing the taxes upon the several wards, that each' shall as near as may be, bear 
a just proportion according to its assessed valuation of the expenses of the 
property already purchased and erected for school purposes. 

§ 22. The board of education shall provide for taking an annual census 
of all the children of the on the thirty-first day of December in each 

year, between the ages of five and sixteen years inclusive, which enumer- 
ation with all other information now required by law of school trustees and 
town superintendents, they shall cause to be forwarded to the state superin- 
tendent of common schools. The expense of such enumeration shall be paid 
by then- warrant out of monies appropriated to their use for contingent ex- 
penses. 

§ 23. For the purposes of all acts which have been or may be passed by the 
legislature of this state, providing for an equal division of public money 
among the school districts of this state, the city of Williamsbui-gh shall be 
deemed to contain as many school districts as school houses. 

§ 24. No officer elected or appointed under tliis act shall receive any 
eompensation for his services, except the librarian. 

§ 25. Chapter 181, laws of eighteen hundred and forty-four, and all oth- 
er acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are here- 
by repealed. 

§ 26. This act shall take effect on the first Monday in January, eighteen 
hxmdred and fifty -two, except as herein otherwise provided. 

williamsville:. 

[Laws of 1846, Chap. 119.] 

§ 1. The trustees of the school district at the village of WiUiamsville, in 
the town of Amherst and county of Erie, are hereby authorized, if the inhab- 
itants of said district shall at any regular school district meeting so direct 
to make thereafter, and until the said inhabitants shall in like manner other- 



367 

■wise direct, separate and distinct rate bills, for the payment of tlie -wages of 
the teachers in the primary and higher department of the schools kept in the 
said district, in such manner to collect on account of scholars attending each 
department, such balance as may be justly due for the wages of the teacher 
01- teachers in that department, after the application to that purpose of such 
share (5f the public moneys as shall be apportioned to each department by such 
trustees, by giving to each such proportion of the ■wliole sum applicable to 
the payment of teachers' wages in both departments, as the number of schol- 
lars wlio shall have attended such department during the time for which such 
rate bill is to be made, shall bear to the whole number of scholars attending 
both of such departments during the same period. 

INDIAN SCHOOLS. 

Laws of 1846, Chap. 114; Laws of 1841, Chap. 238. 

AN ACT to provide for the education of children of the Onondaga Indians 
in the county of Onondaga, and the children of the other Indians residing 
in this state. 

Passed April 80, 1846. 

The People of the State of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as folloios : 

§ 1. The agent of the Onondaga Indians in the coyoty of Onondaga, ap- 
pointed under the authority of this state, is hereby authorised, with the con- 
sent of the chiefs of the said tribe of Onondaga Indians, to cause to be built 
and fLu-nished a good and sufficient school-house on the Onondaga reserva- 
tion, at an expense not exceeding three hundred dollars, for the accommoda- 
tion of the Indian childi'cn residing on such reservation ; and to organize a 
school therein, and the sum of three hundred dollars is hereby appropriated 
for the payment of the expense of erecting and furnishing said school-house. 

§ 2. The sum of two hundred and fifty dollars annually is hereby appro- 
priated for the terra of five years, for the payment of the wages of a teach- 
er or teachers, and of the other expenses of maintaining such school. 

§ 5, The sums appropriated by the first and second sections of this act 
shall be paid from time to time to the said agent of the Onondaga Indians 
on his giving to the people of this state and filing with the state superinten- 
dent of common schools, a bond with satisfactory sureties, to be approved 
by such superintendent conditioned for the proper and faithful expenditure 
of all moneys paid to him, or which shall come into his hands by virtue of 
this act, and for the rendering to such superintendent annually in the month 
of October, a just and true account of all his receipts and expenditm-es, under 
iixQ provisions of this act. 

§ 7. The sum of two hundred and fifty dollars is also hereby appropri- 
ated for the building and furnishing a school house on the lands of the St. 
Regis Indians, in this state ; and the further sum of two hundred dollars per 
year, for the term of five years, is hereby appropriated for the payment of 
wages of a teacher of the school, to be kept in said school house, and for the 
payment of the other expenses of said school. The moneys appropriated by 
this section shall be paid from time to time to the agent of the said St. Regis 
Indians, on his giving to the people of this state, and filing with the stat« 
superintendent of common schools, a bond with satisfactory sureties, to be 
approved by such superintendent, conditioned for the proper and faithful ex- 
penditure within this state, of all moneys paid to him, and which shall come 
into his hands by virtue of this act, and for rendering to the said superin- 
tendent annually, in the month of October, a just and true account of aU his 
receipts and expenditures by virtue of this act. 

§ 8. The sums hereby appropriated shall be paid out of the income of 
the United States deposit fund ; and the last two of the several annual pay- 
ments herein provided for, shall not be paid for the Indians residing on either 



368 

of the said reservations, unless the Indians on such resei'Tation shall, befora 
such payment in each year, pay into the hands of the persons authorised to 
receive and expend the moneys appropriated by this act, at least twenty per 
cent, of the sum authorised to be paid annually for the maintenance of the 
school on such reservation ; nor shall any of the said annual payments ex- 
cept the first, be made unless the state superintendent of common* schools 
shall have satisfactory evidence that a school has been kept in said school 
house for the term of at least six months during the preceding year ; such 
twenty per cent, shall be expended by such commissioner for the support and 
maintenance of the school or schools on the reservation, occupied by the 
Indians paying the same. 

§ 9. The schools organized and established by virtue of this act, shall be 
subject to the visitation and inspection of the superintendent of common 
schools of the town and county where the same shall be situated. 

AN ACT mahing appropriations for building and furnishing school houses^ 
and providing for the education of the children of Indians, residing on the 
Cattaraugus and Allegany reservations. ^ 

Passed May 7, 184Y, "thi-ee-fifths being present" 

The People of the State of Neto York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

§ 1. The sum of three hundred dollars is hereby appropriated for the 
baildiug and furnishing a school house on the Cattaragus reservation, and the 
like sum of three hundred dollars is hereby appropriated for the building 
and furnishing a school house on the Allegany reservation ; such school houses 
to be for use, accommodation and education of the Indian children residing 
on the said reservations. 

6 3. The sums appropriated by this act. and all appropriations made, 
or "that hereafter may be made for the education of the children of Indians 
residing on the Cattaraugus and Allegany reservations, shall be paid out of 
the income of the United States deposite fund, to Chester How, or his sue 
cesser, on his executing to the people of this state, and filing with the super- 
intendent of common schools, a bond in the penalty of two thousand dollars, 
with such sureties as shall be approved by the said superintendent, con- 
ditioned for the faithful expenditm-e of, and accounting for all moneys which 
ahall be received by him under this act ; and he shall, annually, in the month 
of October, render an account to the comptroller, of all receipts and expen- 
ditures by him. 

S 4. The appropriations made for tlie education of Indian children re* 
siding on said reservations, for eighteen hundred and forty-eight, and there- 
after, shall not be expended by the said commissioner, until the chiefs of the 
Indians residing on said reservations shall pay to the said commissioner, 
twenty per cent, of the sums so appropriated, respectively, in each year, to 
be applied by him to the maintenance of the said schools ; nor shall the 
sums so appropriated be paid to the said commissioner unless the superin- 
tendent of common schools shall have satisfactory evidence that schools 
have been kept on the said reservations, respectively, for at least six months 
during the preceding year. 

8 5. In case the said Chester Howe shall decline to accept the trust here- 
bv conferred, or to execute the bond hereby required, or in ca.se of his death, 
iiiability or resignation, the comptroller of this state may appoint some fit 
and proper person or persons to supply such vacancy, who, upon executing 
tlie bond herein required, shall be entitled to i-eceive and expend the moneys 
hereby appropriated, and shall account for the same in the manner and upon 
the" conditions herein provided. 

8 6. The schools established under this act, shall be subject to the visitation 
and inspection of the county and toAvn superintendents of common schoolsj 
of the county and town in which they shall be kept. 



XOTiap. 164, Laws of 1831, Revived by Chap. 39, Laws of 1848.] 
Alf ACT for the relief of the Shinecock tribe of Indians. 

Passed April 19, 1831. 

§ 1. The supei-intendent of common schools shall in every year hereafter 
■apportioa from school moneys, the sum of eighty dollars in addition to the 
amount to which the county of Suffolk is now entitled by law, which sum 
shall be paid on the first day of February in every year on the warrant of 
the comptroller to the treasurer of said county. 

§ 2. The treasurer of said county shall apply for and receive the said 
sum as soon as the same becomes payable, and shall hold the same subject 
to the order of the town superintendent of common schools of the town of 
Southampton, whose duty it shall be to receive and expend the same in the 
payment of the wages of a competent school teacher or teachers, to be by 
them employed in instructing the children between the ages of five and six- 
teen years, belonging to the Shinecock tribe of Indians residing in said 
town. 

§ 3. The said town superintendent shall hereafter include in the annual 
report, a statement of the length of time that a school has been taught in 
pursuance of this act ; the number of children taught in said school; the 
manner in which such moneys have been expended ; and whether any and 
how much remains unexpended, and for what cause, and shall pay such bal- 
fl,nce3 if any, to their successors in office, to be by them expended as herein 
before provided. 

ILaws of 1851, Chap. 243.] 
AN" ACT to provide for the education of the children of the Tuscarora In- 
dians, in the county of Niagara. 
Passed June 20, 1851, " three-fifths being present." 

The People of the State of New- York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

§ 1. The sum of two hundred dollars a year, for the term of two years is 
hereby appropriated for the support of a school or schools to be kept for the 
•education of the children of the Tuscarora Indians, on the Tuscarora Reser- 
vation, in the county of Niagara. 

§ 2. The sum appropriated by first section of this act shall be paid by the 
treasurer on the warrant of the Comptroller, as the same may from time to 
time be wanted, out of the income of the United States Deposite Fund to 
William Mount Pleasant, on his executing and giving to the people of this 
State and filing with the Superintendent of common schools a bond with 
satisfactory sureties, to be approved by the county Judge of the county of 
Niagara, by an endorsement of such approval upon said bond, conditioned 
for the faithful expenditure of all moneys paid to Iiim, or which shall come 
into his hands by virtue of this act and for rendering to said superintenden 
annually in the month of October, a just and true account of all his receipts 
and disbursements by virtue of this act. 

§ 3. It shall be the duty of the said William Mount Pleasant to whom 
the money is from time to time paid by virtue of this act, to expend the same 
in the payment of teachers for the education of the children of the Indians 
on the Reservation aforesaid. 

[Laics of 1851, Chap. 361.] 

AN ACT to provide for the education of the children of the Tonawanda In- 
dians in the county of Genesee. 

Passed July 1, 1851. "by a two-third vote." 
The Peoph of the State of New York represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as folloiv.'i : 

§ 1. The sum of two himdred dollars a year,for two years, is hereby appro- 
priated for the support of a school or schools to be k«pt lor the education of 
24 ^iim^LA iu 



370 

the cMdren of tte Tonawanda Indians, on tlie Tonat?^attda rfesef^ation, ill 
the county of Genesee. 

§ 2. The sum appropriated by the first section of this act shall be paid by the 
treasurer, on the warrant of the comptroller, as the same may from time to 
time be wanted, out of the income of the United States deposite fund, to 
William Parker, on his executing and giving to the people of this state and 
filing with the superintendent of common schools a bond with satisfactory 
sureties, to be approved by the county judge, of the county of Genesee, 
by an endorsement of such approval upon said bond, conditioned for the 
faithful expenditure of all moneys paid to him, or which shall come into his 
hands by vu'tue of this act, and for rendering to said superintendent annu- 
ally, of the month of October, a just and ti'ue account of all liis receipts and 
disbursements by virtue of 4,his act. 

§ 3. It shall be the duty of the said William Parker, to whom the mon- 
ey is from time to time paid by virtue of this act, to expend the same in the 
payment of teachers for the education of the children of the Indians on the 
reservation aforesaid. 

§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 

DISTRICT SCHOOL JOURNAL. 

[Laws of 1841 Chap. 2G0, as amended by% 11 of Chap. 132, Laws of 1843.] 

§ 82. The superintendent of common schools, from year to year, shall be 
authorised to subscribe for so many copies of any periodical published at 
least monthly in this state, exclusively devoted to the cause of education^ 
and not partaking of a sectarian or party character, as shall be sufficient to 
supply one copy to each organized school district in the state ; in which pe- 
riodical, the statutes relating to common schools, passed at the present, or 
any futm'e session of the Legislature, and the general regulations and decis- 
ions of the superintendent made pursuant to any law, shall be published 
gratuituously. The said periodical shall be sent to the clerk of each dis- 
trict, whose duty it shall be to cause each volume to be bound, at the ex- 
pense of the district, and the same shall be preserved in the district hbrary 
for the use of the district. The expense of said subscription, not exceeding 
twenty-eight hundred dollars annually, shall be paid out of the surplus in- 
come arising from the moneys deposited with this state, by the United 
States. 

STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

[Laws of 1844, Chap. 31L] 

AN ACT for the establishment of a Normal School. 

Passed May 7, 1844, 

The People of the State of New York represented in Senate and Assembly 
do enact as follows: 

§ 1. The treasurer shall pay on the wan-ant of the comptroller, to the 
order of the superintendent of common schools from that portion of tlie 
avails of the hterature fund appropriated by chapter two hundred and forty ■ 
one of the laws of one thousand eight hundred and thirty -four, to the sup- 
port of academical departments for the instruction of teachers of common 
schools, the sum of nine thousand six hundred dollars ; which sum shall be 
expended under the direction of the superintendent of common schools, and 
the regents of the university, in the establishment and support of a normal 
school for the instruction and practice of teachers of common schools in the 
science of education and in the art of teaching, to be located in the county 
of Albany. 



371 

§ 2. The sum of ten thousand dollars shall, after the present year, be 
annually paid by the treasurer on the warrant of the comptroller, to the 
superintendent of common schools, from the revenue of the literature fund, 
for the maintenance and support of the school so established, for five years, 
and until otherwise directed by law. 

§ 3. The said school shall be under the supervision, management and 
government of the superintendent of common schools and the regents of the 
university. The said superintendent and regents shall from time to time, 
make all needful rules and regulations, to fix the number and compensation 
of teachers and others to be employed therein, to prescribe the preliminary ex- 
amination and the terms and conditions on which pupils shall be received and 
instructed therein, the number of pupils from the respective cities and coun- 
ties, conforming as nearly as may be to the ratio of population, to fix the lo- 
cation of the said school, and the terms and conditions on which the grounds 
and buildings therefor sliali be rented, if the same shTall nofr"be provided by 
the corporation of the city of Albany, and to provide in all things for the 
good government and management of the said school. They shall appoint a 
board consisting of five persons, of whom the said superintendent shall be 
one, who shall constitute an executive committee for the care, management 
and government of the said school under the rules and regulations prescrib- 
ed as aforesaid, whose duty it shall be from time to time to make full and 
detailed reports to the said superintendent and regents, and among other 
things to recommend the rules and regulations which they deem necessary 
and proper for the said school. 

§ 4. The superintendent and regents shall annually transmit to the legis- 
lature a full account of their proceedings and expenditures of money under 
this act, together with a detailed report by said executive committee of the 
progi-ess, condition and prospects of the school. 

[Laws of 1850, Chap. 89.] 

§ 1.^ The treasm-er shall pay on the warrant of the comptroller to the 
order of the state superintendent of common schools, from the general fund, 
a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars per year for the support and edu- 
cation of ten Indian youth in the State Normal School. 

§ 2. The selection of such youth shall be made by the state superinten- 
dent of common schools from the sevei'al Indian tribes located within the 
state; and in making such selection, due regard shall be had to a just par- 
ticipation in the privileges of tliis act by each of tlie said several tribes, and 
if practicable, reference shall also be had to the population of each of said 
tribes in determining such selection. 

§ 3. Such youths shall not be under sixteen years of age, nor shall any of 
such youths be supported or educated at said Normal School for a period ex- 
ceeding tbree years. 

§ 4. The executive committee of the State Normal School shall be the 
guardians of such Indian youths, during the period of their connection with 
the school, and shall pay then necessary expenses, not exceeding one hundred 
dollars per year for each pupil to be defrayed out of the money appropri- 
ated by the first section of this act. 

§ 5. The Indian pupils selected in pursuance of this act, and attending 
said Normal School, shall enjoy the same privileges of every kind, as the 
other pupils attending said school, including the payment of travelling ex- 
penses, not exceed.ng ten dollars to each pupil. 



m 

TEACHERS' INSTITUTES. 

[Laws of 1841, Chap. 361.] 

AN ACT for the establishment of teachers' institutes. 

Passed November 13, 1841, "three-fifths being present." 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

§ 1. The treasurer shall pay, on the waj-rant of the comptroller, to the 
order of the several county treasurers of this state, the several sums of mon- 
ey hereinafter mentioned, not exceeding sixty dollars annually to any one 
county, from the income of the United States deposite fund, to be expended 
for the use and benefit of teachers' institutes as hereinafter provided. 

8 2. Whenever a majority of town superintendents of common schools 
in any county in this state unite in a recommendation, and file with the 
county clerk thereof a certificate, signifying their desire that a teacher's in- 
stitute should be organized in such county, for the instruetfon and improve- 
ment of common school teachers for such county, it shall thereupon be the 
duty of such clerk forthwith to appoint three town superintendents of the 
county, and notify them of their appointment, to constitute an advisory com- 
mittee, to make the necessary arrangements for organizing and managing 
such institute, and such clerk shall also immediately give such pubUe notice 
in such manner as he may deem most proper to the teachers of common 
schools of the county, and to others who may desire to become such, specify- 
ing a time and place when and where the teachers may meet and form such 
institute. 

S 3. Whenever any institute shall have been organized as herein provid- 
ed, it shall be the duty of said committee, and they shall have power to se- 
cm-e two or more suitable persons to lecture before such institute upon sub- 
jects pertaining to common school teaching and discipline, and varigus edu- 
cational subjects which may be deemed calculated to qualify common school 
teachers, and to elevate the profession of teaching and to improve common 
schools • and said committee shall keep an accurate account in items, of the 
necessary expenses of such institute in procuring said lecturers, and other- 
wise, and shall verify said account by affidavit, and deliver the sam4 to the 
county treasurer, to be audited by and filed with him wlien application shall 
be made to such treasurer, as hereinafter provided. _ 

§ 4. Whenever any county treasurer shall receive satisfactory evidence 
that not less than fifty, or in counties of under thirty thousand population, 
then not less than thirty teachers and individuals intending to become teach- 
ers of common schools within one year, shall have been in regular attendance 
on the instructions and lectures of the institute in the county during at least 
ten working days, he shall audit and allow the account which shall be pre- 
sented to him by the committee as aforesaid, and shall pay over to said com- 
mittee the amount so audi^ted and allowed, not exceeding sixty dollars in 
any one year, to be disbursed by said committee in paying the expenses in- 
curred by the institute as aforesaid. 

8 5. Every such comnaittee shall annually transmit to the state superin- 
tendent of common schools, a catalogue of the names of all persons who 
shall have attended such institute, with such other statistical information and 
within such time as may be prescribed by said state superintendent. 

8 6. This act shall take effect immediately. 



373 

LIBRARY MONEYS. 

[Laws 0/1851. Chap. 425 .] 

AN" ACT to amend the act entitled, "An act to establish free schools through- 
out the State." 

Passed July 9, 1851. 

The People of the State of Neio-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

§ I. The Act entitled, "An act to establish free schools throughout the 
State," passed April 12, 1851, shall not be so construed as to prevent or pro- 
hibit the distribution and application of library money, in the manner hereto- 
fore prescribed by law. 

§ 2. Nothing in this act contained, shall be so construed as to require the 
board of supervisors of each countJ^ to raise a sum of money for library pur- 
poses, equal to the sum which it will receive from the state. 

§ 3. This act shall take efiect immediately. 

WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY. 

[Laws 0/1851. Chap. 449.] 

AN ACT to authorize the Superintendent of Common Schools to purchase 
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary for the Common School Districts of 
this State. 

, Passed July 9, 1851. 

The People of the State of New-Yorlc, represented in Senate and Assembly, do 
enact as follows : 

§ 1, The state superintendent of common schools shall cause notice to be 
given, by circular, to one or more of the trustees of the several school districts 
in this state, on or before the first day of December next, which circular shall 
state the terms, and the funds out of which the same is to be paid ; that Web- 
sters Unabridged Dictionary will be purchased by him, for each of the school 
districts in this state, entitled to participate in the distribution of public mon- 
eys for the support of common schools : provided such district shall notify the 
town superintendent of common schools of their respective towns, in writing, 
to be signed by a majority of the trustees of any school district that said Dic- 
tionary is wanted by the district giving such notice : such notice to be deliver- 
ed to such town superintendent before the fiiscday of January next. 

§ 2. The town superintendent of common schools in each of the towns in 
this state, shall, on or before the fifteenth day of January next, make out and 
deliver to the county clerk, a complete list of all the school districts in their 
several towns : stating the number of such districts, and shall annex to the 
number of each desiring to purchase Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, that 
such district desires to purchase said dictionary, and shall file a copy of such 
list in the office of the ti.wn clerk of their respective towns, on or before the 
fifteenth day of January next. 

§ 3. The county clerk of each of the several counties of this State, shall 
transmit such lists on or before the first day of February next, to the state 
superintendent of common schools. 

§ 4. The state superintendent of common schools is authorized to pur- 
chase of the publishers of Webster's Quarto Unabridged Dictiouary, such 
number of said work as shall be sufficient to supply all the said school dis- 
tricts in the state which shall be found reported upon such lists as desire to 
purchase the same ; such Dictionaries shall be the latest edition of Web- 
ster's Quarto Unabridged Dictionary, print ed on superior paper, well bound 



374 

in leather, and in all respects perfect ; the price to be paid shall not exceed 
four dollars per volome ; and shall be paid for out of the public monies which 
shall be apportioned to the several school districts of the state for which the 
same shall be purchased, one half thereof in the yeai- 1852 and one half 
thereof in the year 1853, and the contract for such purchase of the said pub- 
lishers shall provide for such terms of payment, and the number of Diction- 
aries so purchased shall be delivered to the state superintendent of common 
schools, before the first day of April, 1852, and shall be by him delivered to 
the town superintendent of common schools of the respective towns, before 
the first day of May, 1852. 

§ 5. The said town superintendent shall deliver such Dictionary to the 
trustees of each of the said several districts in their respective towns for 
which they shall be purchased as soon thereafter as shall be practicable, and 
shall retain in his hands the sum of two dollars out of the library monies 
apportioned to such districts in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-two, and 
such sum out of the library monies, to be apportioned to such district in the 
year eighteen hundred and fifty -three, as shall be sufficient to pay the balance 
of the purchase price of such Dictionary, not exceeding the sum of two dol- 
lars, and shall deposite the same immediately thereafter with the treasurer 
of their respective counties, and take a receipt for the same and deliver such 
receipt to the county clerk of their respective counties, to be forwarded by 
such county clerk to the state superintendent of common schools. 

§ 6. The monies so deposited with the treasurers of the respective coun- 
ties shall be subject to the order of the state superintendent of common 
schools, and shall be by him received and paid to the publishers of said Dic- 
tionaries upon his contract for the same. 

§ 1. Such dictionary shall be kept in the libraries of the librarians of 
the several school districts of this state, during the time there shall be no 
school taught in said district, and subject to the same rules that are apphcable 
to other books in school district hbraries ; and during the time a school shall 
be taught therein the said dictionary shall be under the control of the teach- 
er for the time being, and be kept and used in said school. 

PROCEEDINGS OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS UNDER ACT 

OF 1849. 

[Laws of 1S51. Chap. 500.] 

AN ACT to legalize the acts of the several School Districts of the State, 
providing for the support of Common Schools. 

Passed July 10, 1851. 

The People of the State of Hew YorJc, represented in Senate and Assembly 
do enact as follows : 

§ 1 All the acts of the several school districts of this state, providing for the 
raising of moneys by tax, for the support of common schools therein, during 
the years, one thousand eight hundred and forty -nine, one thousand eight hun- 
dred and fifty, and prior to the first day of May, one thousand eight hundred 
and fifty-one ; and all the acts of the trustees of said districts, providing for 
the raising of moneys by tax, for the support of common schools in said dis- 
tricts, for the term of four months during each of said years, prior to the first 
day of May, 1851, so far as the same are in accordance with the act of March 
26, 1849, entitled "An act establishing free schools throughout the state," and 
the acts amendatory thereof, are hereby declared legal and valid. 

§ 2. Nothing in this act shall be construed to affect any suits which have 
been commenced against any trustee, or other ofiicers of said districts, during 
said years, nor affect or impair any rights of action noW existing. 

§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 



375 
ERRATUM. 



Page 342, Paragraph VII " Annual Report of Trustees," in the 4th Hne 
substitute "§ lie,' (No. 186") for "§ 115, (No. 137") 

In Subdivisions 3 and 4 of same head strike out the words " the name and 
age of each child," so as to make the same conformable to the lawat page 
122. 



TO TRUSTEES AND TOWN SUPERINTENDENTS. 



This volume is to be regarded as the property of the district or 
town to which it is sent, and of the Trustees or Town Superintend- 
ent in their official capacity : and is to be delivered, at the expi- 
ration of their official term, to their successors in office. When not 
required for present use by the trustees, it should be deposited with 
Ahe District Clerk. 



THE END. 



INDEX 



ACADEMY. 

Children attending, ■where to be enumerated by trustees of districts, 24S. 

ACCOUNT BOOKS. 

Por receipts and disbursements of trustees, and property of districts, 

■when and how to be procured, , 120, 199». 

ADMINISTRATORS. — See Executors and Administrators. 
AGENT. 

Land occupied by, when taxable to non-resident owner, 212. 

ALBANY, City of. 

Laws respecting common schools in, ;« 2*79. 

ALIENS. 

Qualifications of, as voters at school district meetings, 110, 19S. 

ALLEGANY AND CATTARAUGUS RESERVATIONS. 

Act to provide for the education of Indian children on, 868. 

ALTERATION OP SCHOOL DISTRICTS— See School Districts. 

When to take effect, when made without consent of trustees, 108. 143. 

Not to be made to take effect between the 1st of Dec. and May,.... 108, 14S. 
Consent of trustees to, when and- how to be given and notice to, 108, 143, 144. 

General principles applicable to, 148. 

In joint school districts, how to be made, 108, 146, 14*7, 148, 183, 184. 

AMHERST.— See Williamsville. 

ANNUAL MEETINGS. 

Time and place of holding, when and how to be fixed,... Ill, 112, ITS, 1*79. 

Special annual meeting, when to be held, Ill, 112, 1*78, 201. 

Proceedings of not to be invalidated by want of due notice <fec... . 112, 179. 

Notice of time and place of to be given by district clerk, 115, 1*78, 258. 

"When notice of to be given by trustees, 116,1*78. 

"When notice may be given by inhabitants, Ill, 112, 201, 1'78. 

Adjournment of when authorized, It9. 

Form of noticetor, • 258, 259s. 



377 

Page. 

ANNUAL REPORTS. 

Of the state superintendent, what to contain, 96. 

Of town superintendents, when to be made and what to con- 
tain, 104, 105, 164 to 166, 114. 

Of trustees of districts to be recorded by district clerk, 114. 

Of trustees, when to be made and what to contain, 122, 123, 242, 243 to 248. 

Of county clerk, when to be made and what to contain, 127. 

When to be returned to trustees, by town superintendents, for 

correction, , 154. 

ANNULMENT OF DISTRICTS. 

Proceedings of town superintendent on, and disposition of district 

property and monies, 109, 145, 146. 

APPARATUS.— See School Apparatus. 
APPEALS. 

"When authorized to be made to state superintendent, ■ 124^ 

Town superintendents to furnish answers to, J69. 

Regulations respecting, 2*74 to 278. 

APPENDAGES TO SCHOOL HOUSES. 

Taxes for, how and when to be levied, 111. 

Trustees to furnish from funds raised for that purpose, 115. 

Wood-house, fence and bell may be procured by tax, 190.. 

APPORTIONMENT OF PROPERTY. 

On annulment of school districts, when and how to be made 109, 146. 

APPORTIONMENT OF SCHOOL MONEY. 

By state superintendent, how and when to be made, 92, 97, 98, 103, 139, 140. 

On the division of towns, or erection of new towns, 98, 99. 

To be certified to comptroller and notice to county clerks, 99. 

By Town Superintendents, how and when to be 

made, 92, 93, 98, 102, 103, 149 to 154. 

Notice of to be filed by covmty clerk and certified to county 

treasurer and boai'd of supervisors 100. 

On the alteration or division of districts subsequent to the date of 

theii' annual report, 103, 104. 

On the founation of districts previous to the date of such report,... 104. 

ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION OF TAXES.— See Taxes, 

Tax-lists, Trustees of School Distrifets. 

General provisions respecting, 117, 118, 119, 201 to 219. 

Proceeding for equalization of in joint districts, 113. 

Valuations of taxable property, how ascertained, 119, 209 to 215. 

Proceedings on claim for reduction, and when valuation cannot be 

ascertained from last assessment roll of town, 119, 209, 210 to 212. 

ASSESSMENT ROLL OF TOWN. 

Proceedings for the equalization of, in joint districts, 113, 

Valuations of taxable property, to be ascertained from, 119, 209, 210, 212, 213i. 
Errors in, when and how to be corrected by trustees in assessment 

of district tax 212. 

In joint districts, valuations how to be ascertained from, 21^. 



378 

ATIBURN-, City of. ^"^'" 

Laws respecting common schools in, 281. 

AUTHENTICATION'S. 

Of papers filed with state superintendent and of acts and deci- 
sions of, , 9*7. 

AYES AND NOES. 

To be taken on vote to levy tax for building school house by in- 
stalments, , 112. 

On change of site of unaltered district, 113, 168. 

Form of list of voters for use of district clerk, 191. 

B. 

BANKS AND BANKING ASSOCIATIONS. 

Liability of to taxation for school district purposes, 20*7. 

BELL. 

Tax may be voted for, by inhabitants of districts, 190. 

BLACK BOARDS. 

Taxes authorized to be levied for purchase of. Ill, 180. 

When library money may be apphed to purchase of, 125, 182. 

BLANK BOOK. 

Por recording proceedings of districts, how & when to be purchased, 111. 

For receipts and disbursements of trustees, property oi district 

and teachers' lists, 120, 199, 231. 

BOARD. 

Of teachers, how to be provided for, 222, 223. 

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. 

Duty of in assessment and collection of state tax, 92, 9*7, 139. 

Clerk of to transmit to state superintendent, certificate of proceed- 
ings of, 99. 

Olerk of to lay copy of notice of apportionm't of school money before, 100. 

Duty of on return by trustees of taxes on non-resident property 

in school districts, 118, 119. 

To audit, allow and certify accounts for costs and expenses of suits 

brought by or against trustees and other oflScers of school districts, 129. 

BRIDGE COMPANIES. 

LiafeDity of to taxation for district purposes, 213. 

Toll house and gate of, including lot, how taxable, 214. 

BROOKLYN, City of. 

Laws respecting common schools in, " 286- 

BUFFALO, City of. 

Laws respecting common schools in, 289. 

BUSHWICK, Town of. 

Aet rto provide for free schools in, 291. 



379 

Pag*. 

c. 

CATALOGUE. 

Of books in district libraries, -when and ho-w to be furnished by 

trustees, 151, 154, 200, 265. 

CATTARAUGUS AND ALLEGANY RESERVATIONS. 

Act to provide for the education of Indian children residing in,... . 36S. 

CERTIFICATES OF QUALIFICATION. 

By state superintendent, in what cases to be granted 96. 

Powers and duties of town superintendents in granting and an- 
nulling, 107, 108, 154 to 160. 

To teachers in joint districts, by whom to be granted and an- 
nulled, : 107, 155, 158. 

Form of, and of instrument for annulment of, 174. 

CHALLENGES. 

Of votes in district meetings, when and by whom to be made, 110. 

Declaration to be made, effect of, and penalty for false declaration, 110. 

CHAMBERLAIN of the City of New- York. 

Share of school money to be paid over to, 100. 

Duty of in applying for and receiving the same, 100. 

CHILDREN. 

Enumeration of by trustees in annual report, 122, 123, 24S, 244. 

Entitled to attend the schools of the district in which enumerated, 123, 232. 

Eooms to be hired, temporaiily, for accommodation of, when 

necessary, 123, 221. 

Of non-residents, when to be admitted into district school, 92, 128, 138. 

Attending an academy, where to be enumerated 243* 

CLERK OF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. 

To transmit to state superintendent copies of proceedings of Board 
relative to school moneys, 99. 

To lay before Board, copy of notice of apportionment from coun- 
ty Clerk, 100. 

CLYDE HIGH SCHOOL. 

Act respecting, 292. 

COHOES, Village of. 

Act to estabhsh fi-ee schools in, 293. 

COLLECTOR.— See District Collector. 

COLORED CHILDREN. 

Schools for, when and how to be established, and provision for 
* support of, 130, 131, 152, 230, 255, 256. 

COMMON SCHOOL LAWS & DECISIONS. 

Directions respecting the use and preservation of volumes of sent to 

the several districts, 260. 

COMMON SCHOOL FUND. 

Money paid into treasmy on account of, to be credited with interest, 99, 139. 

Distribution of, when and how to be made, 100, 139. 

Capital and revenues of, ,.,.... 1S&. 



380 

COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM, 

Origin, Progress and Present Condition of, 5 to 90. 

General Outlines of, 85. 

COMPTROLLER. 

Certificate of apportionment of school moneys to be given to, 99, 140. 

Authorized in conjunction with superintendent, to -withhold public 

money in certain cases, 99. 

To credit common school fund with interest on payments into the 
Treasury, 99. 

Duty of on return of non-resident taxes by county treasurer, 119. 

CONS OLID ATIOJSr OF DISTRICTS. , 

Effect of on rights of property, 108,145,146. 

CORPORATIONS. 

Liability of to taxation for district purposes, IIT, 118, 203, 206, 216. 

COSTS. 

Of suits brought by or against school officers, provisions respect- 
ing, 128, 129, 169. 

COUNTY CLERK. 

Duty of relative to certificate of apportionment of state tax, 92, 9'7, 139. 

Notice of apportionment to begiven to, 99- 

To file notice of apportionment by state supt. and transmit a copy 

to county treasurer, 100. 

Annual report of the state superintendent, whea to be made and 
what to contain,.... 12Y. 

Penalty for refusal or neglect to make such report, 127. 

To notify town clerk of neglect of town superintendent to trans- 
mit annual report,.. 128. 

Duty of in reference to the organization of teachers' institutes, 3*72. 

Duty of under act to provide for the purchase of Webster's diction- 
ary for the use of the several school districts, 3'73. 

COUNTY POOR HOUSE. 

Children supported in, not to be included in annual report of trus- 
tees, 122,243. 

COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF COMMON SCHOOLS. 

Efforts for establishment of office of, ...44,45,47. 

Appointment of provided for, 60. 

Administration of, 62, 53. 

Office of abolished, 65. 

Recommendations for its restoration, 68, 11, iQjII, 72. 

COUNTY TREASURER. 

Avails of state tax to be paid over to, 92,97. 

Dividends of common school fund when to be paid to, 100. 

Duty of in application for, receipt and disbursement of the same, 100. 

To give notice to town superintendent or commissioners, 100. 

Moneys when to be returned to by town superintendent 104. 

To give notice of loss of school money occasioned by neglect of 

town supt V 105. , 



381 

Page. 

Duty of on return by trustees of unpaid taxes on non-residents, US. 

Cannot deduct commission from public moneys paid over to them, 140. 

Commission of, how payable, 140. 

Duty of on return of taxes on leasehold property, 20*7. 

Duty of, in relation to expenses of teachers' institutes, 372. 

COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. 

Town superintendent to advise and consult with trustees in reference 

tOj'^c, 108, 1G2 to 164. 

D. 

DECLARATION. 

To be mabe by persons challenged at school district meeting, 110, 

Effect of, and penalty for false declaration, 110^ 

DEED. 

Of Schoolhouse and site, when to be executed by trustees, and 
effect of, 113. 

DEFICIENCIES. 

In tax list or rate bills, how to be supplied, 116 153 

DELHI, village of. 

Act relative to schools in, - , 297, 

DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT OF COMMON SCHOOLS. 

How appointed, power and duties of, 96, 

DISCIPLINE AND CONDUCT OF SCHOOL. 

Town superintendent to consult with trustees in reference to, 108, 162. 

DISSOLUTION OF DISTRICTS. 

Duty of town superintendents and trustees in case of, 108, 109. 

Effect of, in joint districts, I43, 

DISTRICT CLERK. 

Trustees of school districts ineligible to the office of, 102, 

When and how to be chosen, HI, 

To give notice of special annual and adjourned district meeting, 114, 258, 259, 

When to notify special meeting for the election of district 

officers, Ill, 112, 258. 

Powers and duties of, 114, 115, 191, 192, 258, 

Vacancy in office of, how to be filled, II4. 

Penalty for refusing to serve or neglect of official duties, ,. 114. 

Resignation of, how and to whom to be made, and notice of, 114, 

To preserve district records, books and papers and deliver to suc- 
cessor in office, II5. 

To file certificate of exemption by trustees of indigent persons,... 116. 

To file and record annual account of trustees of money received 

and expended, 124. 

Penalties and forfeitures for wilfid neglect of ofiicial duty by ; and 

how collected, 115, 128, 169, 248, 260 

Removable from office by state superintendent, 131, 166, 248° 



382 

Page. 

Provision for costs and expenses of suits "brought by and 
against, 128, 129, 169. 

Duty of, in entering and recording proceedings of district meeting 

and forms for use of, 114,191, 192,258,259. 

Forms of minutes of district meeting for use of, 192. 

Foi"ms of notices by, for annual, special and adjom-ned district 

meetings, 258, 259. 

To forward to town clerk names of district officers, 259. 

Duties of, in reference to District School Journal, 259, 260. 

DISTRICT COLLECTOR. 

When and how to be chosen, 111. 

Vacancy in office of, how to be filled, 114. 

Penalty for refusal to serve, or neglect of official duty, 114. 

Resignation of, how and to whom to be made, and notice of, 114. 

Trustees of district not eligible to office of, 263. 

Powers and duties of, in execution of warrants for collection of 
rate bills, 93,116,218, 219, 228, 262, 263, 264. 

Duty of, in the collection of taxes against non-resident, unoccupied 

and unimproved lands, 118, 20*7. 

Duty of in the collection of district taxes, percentage of, and mode 

of procedui-e, 119, 120, 218, 219,260, 261,262,263,264. 

Forfeiture of, for neglect of duty and how to be recovered and ap- 
plied, 120. 

Jurisdiction of, in the execution of warrants for collection of dis- 
trict taxes, 120, 218, 260, 262, 263, 264. 

Bond to be required of, ...,257,260. 

Bail or sureties of, liable for moneys received or collected by, 120. 

Penalties and forfeitures for wilful neglect of official duty by, and 

how collected 128, 169, 248. 

Removable from office by state superintendent for embezzlement 
or wilful neglect of official duty, 131, 166, 248. 

Provision for costs and expenses of suits brought by and against, 128, 129, 169. 

Liability of, in thd^ execution of process, 151, 262. 

Eligibility of teacher to office of, 262. 

DISTRICT LIBRARIAN". 

"When and how to be chosen, Ill, 264. 

Vacancy in office of, how to be filled, 114,264. 

Penalty for refusal to serve, or neglect of official duty, 414. 

Resignation of, how and to whom to be made, and notice of, 114. 

To be subject to the direction of trustees and removable by 

them, 125, 126, 264. 

Powers and duties of, in reference to district library, 241, 264, to 210. 

DISTRICT LIBRARIES. 

History of establishment and organization of, 27, 31, 32, 37, 39, 42. 

Tax for pm-chase of, authorized, 125, 182, 183, 190. 

Appropriation for, ! 125, 139. STS. 



383 

Paffe. 

Trustees of district to be trustees of, 125. 

Powers, duties and liabilities of trustees and librarian 

of, : 125,126, 233 to 242, 264 to 270. 

General princijjles applicable to tlie selection of books for, 234 to 240. 
General regulations respecting preservation of, to be made by state 

supt 126, 264. 

Powers and duties of trustees of in the imposition and collection of 

fines, 126, 240, 241, 242, 264. 

"Wlien libraries of two or more districts may be united, 126,183, 265. 

"When library may be selected by state superintendent, 126,183. 

Liability of trustees for neglect of, and loss of books from, 125, 126. 

Catalogue of, and number of books when and how to be made and 

furnished by trustees, 151, 154, 199, 200, 240, 265. 

Regulations of state superintendent for preservation and use of 

books in Ac, 240 to 242, 267 to 270. 

When authorized to be placed in charge of teacher, 273. 

DISTRICT MEETINGS.— See Annual Meeting, Inhabitants of 

school districts Special Meeting. 
Ifotice of, when and how to be given, on the formation of dis- 
trict, 109, 110, 144. 

Duty of inhabitants to attend, 110. 

Qualifications of voters in, 110, 193. 

Challenges how and by whom to be made ; declaration and effect 
of, and penalty for false declaration, and for voting at, without 

being qualified, 110, 194. 

Powers and duties of inhabitants entitled to vote in, 109, 111, 115, 178, to 195. 

Alteration, modification or repeal of proceedings of, Ill, 194. 

Notice of, to state the purposes for which called, Ill, 200, 258. 

Annual meetings, when and where to be held, and time and place 

of, when to be fixed, Ill, 112, 178, 179, 258. 

Special meetings for election of district officers, when and by whom 
to be called, Ill, 112, 178, 201. 

Proceedings of, not to be invalidated by want of notice &c., 112, 179, 258. 

Proceedings of, to be recorded by district clerk, 114, 258. 

Notice of time and place of, to be given by district clerk, 116, 200, 258. 

When notice of, to be given by trustees, 115. 

Appeals to state superintendent from proceedmgs of, &,c., 124, 275 to 278. 

Mode of proceeding in, 190 to 193. 

Mode and form of keeping minutes and record of proceedings of, 191, 192. 

Form of notice for annual and adjourned, 259. 

DISTRICT SCHOOL JOURNAL. 

To be forwarded by mail to the clerk of each district, 259, 370. 

Duty of district clerk in reference to 259,260,870. 

DISTURBANCES IN SCHOOL DISTRICT. 

Penaltiea for, how collected and applied 180,256,257. 



Page. 

E. 

EMBEZZLEMEI5-T. 

Of public money by to^Wa superintendents or otber school officers 

penalty for, ....i I3l. 

ENUMERATION" OF CHILDREN. 

How to be made in annual reports of trustees, 122, 123, 243, 244. 

EQUALIZATION OF TAXES. 

Proceedings for, in the case of joint districts, 113. 

ERRORS AND OMISSIONS. ' 

Equitable power of state superintendent in case of, ; 103, 198. 

In tax list and rate bills, when and how to be corrected, 121, 202. 

In reporting names of district officers to toWn clerks, not to inval- 
idate election, 259. 

EXECUTORS AND ADMINISTRATORS. 

Liability of, to taxation for school district pui-poses, 214, 215. 

EXEMPTIONS. 

Of indigent persons from payment of teachers wages, wholly or 
in part, 93, 116, 224 to 230. 

How certified and collected by trustees, 93, 116, 224, to 230. 

Of property from levy and sale on warrants for collection of rate 

biUs, 93, 111, 228. 

Of inhabitants in certain cases, from tax for building school houses, 119, 215. 

F. 

FENCE. 

Tax may be voted for by inhabitants of district, , 190. 

FLUSHING. 

Act to establish free schools in town of, 298. 

FORFEITURES. — See Penalties and Forfeitures. 

To be sued for, recovered and applied by town superintendent....... 102. 

To be sued for recovered and applied by trustees of district, 120. 

FORMATION OF SCHOOL' DISTRICTS.— See School Districts, 
Town Superintendents. 

General principles applicable to, 148. 

Form of resolution for, 171. 

FORMS PRESCRIBED BY SUPERINTENDENT. 

Of bond to be given by town superintendent to supervisor, 1*70. 

Of resolution for formation of new district, : 1*71. 

Of notice to trustees not giving their consent to alteration of dis- 
trict, 112? 

Of notice of the first meeting of a district for organization, 112. 

Of resolution for the alteration of a district, 1*73 

Of proceedings in the formation or alteration of a joint district 1'74' 

Of certificates of qualification to teachers by town superintendent. It*. 

Of instrument annulling teachers certificate, 114. 



365 

Page. 

Of annual report of town superintendent, 1Y4. 

Of resolution for raising a tax for erection of school houses, IST- 

Of list of ayes and noes for taking votes in school districts, 191. 

Of minutes to be kept by district clerk of proceedings of district 

meeting 192. 

Of minutes to be kept by district clerk of proceedings of district 
meeting in reference to change of site of school house -in unal- 
tered district, 192. 

Of district tax list and warrant, 21*7,218. 

Of assessment for teachers wages, certificate of exemption, rate bill 

and warrant, 226, 22Y. 

Of annual reports of trustees of school districts, 244. 

Of annual report of trustees of joint districts, 246. 

Of bond to be given by district collector, 257. 

Of notices for annual, adjourned and special district meetings, 258, 259. 

FREE SCHOOLS. 

History of the establishment and organization of, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 71 to 85. 

Act for establishment of, throughout the state, 92. 

In the viUage of Bushwick act for the establisliment of, 291. 

In the village of Cohoes, 293. 

In thetown of Flushing, 298. 

In the town of Lansingburgh 304. 

In the town of Newtown, 316, 318. 

In the village of Poughkeepsie, 330. 

In the city of Troy, 851, 356, 357. 

FUEL. 

Taxes for, authorized to be levied, 111. 

Trustees to furnish, from funds collected therefor, from the district, 115. 

When trustees to provide and levy a district tax therefor, 120, 216. 

Cannot be provided but by voluntary arrangement in any other 
mode than that prescribed by law, 190,216. 

G. 

GENERAL DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT. 

To be appointed by the state superintendent ; powers and duties of, 96. 

GLENS FALLS. 

Act to unite the libraries of ihe several districts in the village of, 300 . 

GLOBES. 

Taxes authorized to be levied for purchase of, Ill, 180. 

When library money may be applied to purchase of, 125, 151, 182. 

GOSPEL AND SCHOOL LOTS.— See Trustees of gospel and school lots. 

Provisions respecting, .^. 132, 133. 134, 141, 142, 151, 198. 

Powers and duties of trustees of, 133, 134. 

Application by trustees of funds arising from, 198, 

GUARDIANS. 

Liability of to taxation for school district pui'poses, 214, 215. 

95 



Paga. 

H. 

HOLIDAYS-. 

On what, school may be dismissed, 274. 

HUDSON CITY. 

Act in relation to common schools in, 301. 

I. 

INDIAN CHILDREN. 

Trustees not to include in annual report, 128. 

Act to provide for the education of, in State normal school, SYI. 

INDIAN SCHOOLS. 

Act to provide for the education of the children of the Onondaga 

and St. Regis tribes of Indians, 367. 

Do. for Indian children on the Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations, 368. 

Do. for children of the Shinecock tribe in Southampton, Suffolk Co., 369. 

Do. for the children of the Tuscarora Indians in Niagai-a County, 869. 

Do. for the children of the Tonawanda Indians in the county of 

Genessee, "°^- 

INDIGENT PERSONS. 

To be exempted by trustees from payment of teachers -wf^es, whol- 
ly or in part ; and exemptions how to be certified and collect- 
g^ '... 93, 116, 224 to 230. 

INHABITANTS OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

Powers and duties of, 109, 115, 178 to 195. 

When and how to notify legal voters of time and place of first 
meeting in the district, 109, 144, 145. 

When authorized to give notice of annual meeting, 112, 201. 

Penalty for refusal of, HO. 

To attend district meetings when duly notified, 110. 

Qualification of voters, proceedings on challenge; penalty for false 

declaration and for voting without being qualified, 110, 193, 194. 

Proceedings of on change of site of unaltered district, 113, 184, 185, 186. 

When authorised to direct sale of school house and site, 113, 181, 185. 

Authorized to provide for deficiencies in tax list <fec., 116, 183. 

When exempt from tax for building school house, 119. 

May vote a tax for purchase of district library, 125, 182, 183. 

Reconsideration of proceedings of, when authorized, IH, 194. 

Authorized to direct division of teachers money into portions, 115, 183, 190. 

Power of in joint districts to decide on proposed alteration in cer- 
tain cases 108,147,183,184. 

Powers conferred upon, to be strictly pursued, 184. 

Powers and duties of, in the designation of sites for school houses, 186, 188, 1 89. 
Do. do. in building, hiring, purchasing and reparing school 

hous6 and providing furniture, fuel and appendages, 186, 18T, 188, 189, 190- 
Do. do. in disposition of the district property, lOO. 



May vote a tax for building a wood house, fence, bell and necessary, 190. 
But not for contingencies or arrearages generally, 'writhout specify- 
ing the same, 190. 

Mode of proceedings of, in district meeting, 190 to 193. 

Mode a nd form of keeping minutesand records of proceedings of, 191, 192. 

INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF SCHOOLS. 

Power and duties of town superintendents concerning, lOY, 108, 154 to 164. 

INSTALMENTS. 

When and how tax for building, «fec., school house may be raised by, 112. 

J. 

JOINT LIBRARIES. 

When and how to be purchased by two or more adjoining districts, 126, 188. 

Joint librarian to be appointed 126. 

Provision for division of books, <fec., in, 12*7. 

JOINT SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

Certificates of qualification to teachers in, by whom to be granted 

and annulled, lOT, 155. 

Formation and alteration of, how and by whom to be made, 108, 146, 147, 148. 

Majority of oflBcer 3 of each town to concur in, 146,147. 

When and how special meeting to be called by t(Mvn supt. to decide 
on proposed alteration in, and effect of decision of such meet- 
ing 108,147, 18S, 184. 

Certificate of town supt. on tax exceeding $400 for building, hiring 

or purchasing school house, 1I2, 181. 

When and how valuation of taxable property in, may be equalized, 118, 170. 

Annual report of trustees of, when to be made and what to con- 
tain, ... 123. 

Form of resolution for formation or alteration of, 174. 

Duty and power of trustees in assessing taxes in, 212. 

Form of annual report of trustees of, 246. 

JUSTICES OF THE PEACK 

To fill vacancies in ofiice of town superintendent, 101, 141, 142. 

L. 

LANSINGBURGH. 

Act to provide for a free school in town of, 304. 

LEASEHOLD ESTATES. 

Liability of to taxation for school district purposes, 207. 

LEWISTON SCHOOL FUND. 

Provisions respecting, 186, 137. 

LIBRARIAN.— See district Librarian. 
LIBRARY MONEY. 

How to be apportioned and paid over by town superinten- 
dent, 103, 150, 151, 200. 



When to be expended By trustees, 103, 151, 182, 

Appropriation for, and how to be applied and expend- 
ed, 125, 139, 140, 150,151. 

Wben to be applied to purchase of maps, globes, black boards or 

other scientific apparatus for use of the school, 125, 151, 182. 

When authorized to be applied to payment of teachers wages, 125, 151, 182. 

When authorized to be applied to purchase of joint library, 126, 183. 

How to be distributed when withheld from any district, 127,152, 

Duty of town superintendent when withheld, 152. 

In what cases to be withheld from districts, 154. 

Act relative to distribution of, 3*72. 

LOCAL LAWS AND PROVISIONS. 

Not to be affected by general laws, except incertain cases,.. 93, 132. 

LOCKPORT. 

Act in relation to common schools in, ...305,312. 

LODI UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT. 

Provision in reference to rate bills for payment of teachers wages in, 316, 

M. 

MAPS. 

Taxes authorized to be le^edforthe purchase of, Ill, 180. 

When library money may be appropriated to purchase of, 125, 151, 182, 

MEDINA. 

Act in relation to common schools in the village of^ 318. 

MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL. 

Exemption of from taxation for school district purposes, 216, 

■N. 

NEWTOWN. 

Act to establish a free school in district No. Z in the town of, 816, 818. 

NEW TOWNS. 

Apportionment of school moneys how to be made to, 98, 99, 140. 

NEW-YORK CITY. 

Act to amend, consolidate and reduce to one act, the various acts 

relative to common schools in...... $19. 

NON-RESIDENTS. 

Terms on which children of, may be admitted into the 

schools,. 92, 128, 138, 231, 282. 

Liability of, to taxation for district purposes, 117, 203, 205, 212. 

Statement and description of real estate of, when unoccupied and 

unimproved to be made by trustees, 117, 118, 203, 207 to 209, 212. 

Collector to be credited amount of taxes so returned, by trustees, 118, 207, 
Trustees to transmit account and certificate to county treasurer, 118, 207. 
County treasurer to pay amount so returned, and lay account &c., 

before board of Bupervieors,...,,.., ~.. 118, 207, 



Ptge. 

Payment authorized to be made to county treasurer, 118,207,208. 

Duty of board of supervisors in the collection of such amount, 119, 207, 208. 

Taxable for land occupied by agent, but not if occupied by tenant, 212. 

Sawmill owned by, liable to taxation, 212. 

Trustees authorized to prosecute, for amount due on tax list or rate 

bills, 121, 249. 

NORMAL SCHOOL. 

History of the establishment and organization 

of, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 32, 33, 37, 38, 39, 49, 51, 54 to 56, 60, 64, 65, 67, 69. 

Act for the establishment of, 370, 

Act to provide for the education of Indian children in, 871. 

NOTICE. 

Of the formation or alteration of districts, •when and by whom to be 
given, „ 108, 143, 144. 

Of the time and place for the first district meeting and by whom 

to be given 109, 110, 144, 145. 

Of district meetings to state the purpose thereof, Ill, 179, 200, 258. 

Of annual meeting, and meeting adjourned for more than one 

month, how and by whom to be given, 268. 

Of special meeting for electi cm of district officers, when and hj 

whom to be given, Ill, 112, 201, 258 

"Want of, not to vitiate proceedings of annual or special meetings, 

ifec., 112, 179, 258. 

Of resignation of disti-iet officers to be given by town supt, to 

clerk or trustees, - 114. 

Of time and place of special, annual and adjom-ned district meet- 
ings to be given by clerk, - 116,200,858. 

Of claim to reduction in 'the valuation of taxable property, to trus- 
tees IW. 

By trustees, on valuation of taxable property, on claim for re- 
duction or otherwise, 119, 210 to 212. 

Form of, to trustees withholding consent for formation or al-teratioa 

of district, „ .... 172. 

o. 

OATHS. 

Town superintendents authorized to administer, without fees, - 16€. 

Town superintendents not required to take 170, 

OFFICERS OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS.— See District Clerk, Dis- 
trict Collector, District Librarian, Trustees of School Districts. 

Money in hands of, in annulled district, to be recovered and appor- 
tioned by town superintendent, 109, 146. 

When and how to be elected, and term of office Ill, 112, 180, 

Special meeting, when to be called for election of, HI, 112,178. 

Va<;aaeie8 Among, how to be filled, > ,. 114 



Pages 

Penalty for refusal to serve, or neglect of official duty....... 114.. 

Resignations of, how and to -whom to be made and notice of, 114. 

Provision for costs and expenses in. suits brought by and 
against,.... 128, 129, 169, 254. 

May be removed by state superintendent for embezzlement of pub- 
lic money or wilful negleet of official duty 131, 166,248. 

C!opies of School Laws, forms and instructions to be la-ansmitted to, 131.. 

Should be separately chosen by baUol, 191- 

G-eneral principles of law in reference to suits brought against,. . 250 to 255. 

Karnes of to be reported by district clerk to town clerk 259.. 

ONONDAGA TRIBE OF INDIANS. 

Act to provide for the education of the children of, SSt. 

ORPHAN ASYLUMS. 

Children supported at, not to be included in returns of trustees,. . 122.^ 

OSWEGO. 

Provisions in relation to schools in the city of, '... .•• 829i 

OVERSEERS OF THE POOR. 

Provisions relative to moneys in. the hands of, 134, 135,. Ml, 161. 

OWEGO. 

Provision in reference to rate-bills for teachers' wages in district 
No. 1, in village of, • • 316. 

P. 

PENALTIES AND FOR.FEITURES. 

Duty of the town superintendent in the collection and application of, 102, 161., 

For neglect by town superintendent in making annual report, 105, 166. 

For refusal of taxable inhabitants to serve notices for first meeting 

in a district, ^^^'- 

For wilfuUy making false declaration of right to vote, on challenge, 110. 

For voting without the requisite qualifications, 110. 

For refusal to serve, or neglect of official duties by officers of 

school districts, l^** 

For negleet or refusal of district clerk to preserve records, books 

and papers'and to deliver the same to his successor, 115» 

For neglect of duty of district collector, in the collection of taxes, 120. 

To be sued for, recovered and applied by trustees of districts, 120. 

For false report by trustees of districts, to town superintendents, 123, 248. 
For refusal or neglect of trustees annually to account and pay 

overbalance in their hands, • 124, 249. 

For refusal or neglect of county clerk to make annnal report to 

state superintendent, 127' 

For wilful neglect of official duty by town superiiitendents or offi- 

aers of school districts^ • 128, 168, 248. 

Per wilful disturbauoe, interruption, or disquiet of district schools, 130,^56* 



391 

Page. 

PLANK ROAD CORPORATION. 

Liability of to taxation for school district piu'poses, and valuation 

of property, how to be ascertained, 206,207. 

POOR HOUSE.— See Oounty Poor House. 
POUGHKEEPSIE. 

Act to establish free schools in the Tillage of, 830. 

PROPERTY OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS.— See >ScAo«/ Hrnue, 

Bite of School House, District Library. 

Disposition of, on consolidation of two or more districts, 109, 145, 146. 

Sale and application of, on annulment of district by town supt 109, 145, 146. 
Blank Books to be procured by trustees for keeping account of, (fee, 120, 199. 
PUBLIC MONEY.— See School Money. 



^ 



QUALIFICATION OF TEACHERS. 

State Certificates of, from superintendent, 96. 

How ascertained and certified by town superintendents 107, 164 to 160. 

QUALIFICATION OF VOTERS. 

In school district meetings, 110,193. 

R. 

RAIL ROAD COMPANIES. 

Liability of to taxation for school district purposes, 206. 

RATE BILLS. 

Trustees of dissolved districts to make out for discharge of legal 

liabilities, 109. 

To be made out by trustees for teachers' wages ; what to con- 
tain, 93, 116, 224 to 230. 

To be delivered to and executed by the collector, 116, 218. 

Powers and duties of collector in execution of warrants for col- 
lection of, 93, 116, 218. 

Deficiencies in amoimt collected by, how to be raised, 116. 

Property exempt from levy and sale on warrants for collection of, 93, 117. 

Warrants for collection of, how to be issued ; eflfect of and when 

and how renewable, 121, 218,219. 

Trustees authorized to prosecute non-residents for non-payment of, 121, 249. 

Errors in, how to be corrected, 121,^202. 

Form of assessment, rate-bill and warrant, 226,227. 

Special provision in reference to in Lodi and Owego, 816. 

do do do do WiUiamsviUe, 866. 

RECONSIDERATION OP VOTES. 

When authorized in general, Ill, 194. 

On levying tax for building school house by instalments, 118. 

REDUCTION. 

In the valuation of taxable property ftom last assessment roll of 
town, how claimed and when to be allowed, 119, 209,210. 



392 

EELIGIOUS EXERCISES Ilf SCHOOLS. 

Directions respecting 2*73. 

RENEWAL OF WARRAJSTTS. 

When and how to be made, 121, 168,219. 

RENTS RESERVED. 

On leases in fee, for life or years, liability of to taxation for 

district purposes^ 20T. 

REPAIRS TO SCHOOL HOUSE. 

Powers and duties of trustees in reference to, 115, 116, 220. 

RESIDENCE. 

What constitutes, for the purpose of enumeration by trustees of 

districts,..^. 244. 

RESIGNATIONS. 

Of oflBcers of school districts, how and to whom to be made and 

notice of, 114:- 

ROCHESTER. 

Acts relative to schools in the city of, .♦. 332. 

s. 

SALEM. 

Act relative to schools in the village of, 33T. 

SAW MILL. 

Liability of to taxation, 212. 

SCHENECTADY. 

Provisions relative to schools in the city of, 343 to 345. 

SCHOOLS. 

Penalties for wilful disturbance, inten-uption or disquiet of,.' 130, 256. 

For colored children, provisions for, 180,131,152, 230,255. 

SCHOOL APPARATUS. 

Taxes authorized to be levied for purchase of, Ill, 180,181. 

When Library money may be applied to purchase of, 125, 151,182. 

SCHOOL CELEBRATIONS. 

Circulai- of Superintendent Yates respecting 22,23. 

SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

Apportionment of public money and state tax, to 92, 9T, 98- 

Duty of the town superintendent in the formation and alter- 
ation of, 102. 142, 143.144. 

Consent of trustees when and how to be given, and notice to, 108, 143, 144. 

In what cases money to be apportioned to, where the annual re- 
port is not in conformity to law, 103, 104,153. 

Supervisor and town clerk, in what cases to be associated with 
town superintendent in the formation or alteration of, 108, 143. 

Formation and alteration of in joint districts, by whom to be made, 108. 

Effect of consolidation of, on rights of property, ; • 108, 145, 146. 

Sale of property of, on annulment of, and application of proceeds 
by town superintendent, ■. 109, 145, 146' 



393 

p«r- 
I>ut5r of town superintendent on the formation of, 109,144. 

Notice of formation of, and of time and place of first meeting, how 

and by whom to be given 109, 110,144. 

Qualifications of voters in 110,193. 

Appeals to state superintendent from proceedings in the formation 

or alteration of, 124, 215 to 2T8. 

Penalties and forfeitures for disturbing, interrupting or disquieting 

any district school or assemblage, 130. 

General principles applicable to formation and alteration of, 148. 

Must be composed of contiguous territory, 148. 

Formed by state superintendent on appeal, 169. 

Form of resolution for formation and alteration of, Ill, 173, 114, 

Acts of under act of 1849, legalized, 314. 

SCHOOL FUND.— See School Moneys. 

Capital and apportionment of, 138, 139,140. 

SCHOOL HOUSES.— See Sites for School Houses. 

Not to be erected on the division-lines of towns, 101, 108. 

Sites for, when and how to be designated, 111,180, 181,186. 

Taxes for building, hiring or purchasing, tfec, authorized to be 

levied, 111,180,181, 186, 181. 

Taxes for <fec., not to exceed $400 except on certificate of town 

superintendent, 112, 168, 169, 181, 181. 

When and how amount for building Ac, may be raised by instalm't, 112, 181 . 

When such vote may be reconsidered, 113, 181. 

Site of in unaltered districts when and how to be chang- 
ed, ; 113, 168,169,184,185, 186,188. 

Sale of, when, by whom, and on what terms to be made, and invest- 
ment of proceeds, 113,114,181,185, 186,121. 

Trustees to purchases or lease sites for, and to build, hire or purchase 
keep in repair and furnish with necessary fuel and appen- 
dages, 115, 219, 220, 221. 

Trustees to have custody andsafe keeping of, 115, 220. 

Regulations respecting use of, when not required for dis. purposes, 220, 221. 

Trustees authoriaed to expend ten dollars per annum in repairs on, 

and to levy the same on district, 116. 

Tax for building, &a, paid by tenants, to be charged to owners, 111. 

When inhabitants to be exempt from tax for building, 119, 215. 

Examination of by town superintendents 161, 163, 164. 

Form of resolution for tax for erection of, 181. 

Tax for building may be raised, but cannot be expended until title 

to site has been procured 188, 189. 

Collection of tax for building not to be suspended by vote of dist., 188. 

Sites for must be fixed by vote of inhabitants, 188. 

Proceeding in case of failure of title of site to, 188. 

Effect of vote authorizing trustees to repair, <fec., 189. 

May be kept in repair, when built by subscription, 189. 



394 

Page. 

Partnerships in erection of, prohibited, 189,190. 

Additional rooms, not to be provided in, for select schools, 189. 

Taxes for repairs of ought not to be voted, where district has no 
title to site, <fec^ ; ".. 189. 

Ownership of, -when erected without permission of owner of soil, 189. 

Tax may be voted for enlargement of, without certificate of town' 

superintendent 190- 

Taxes for wood-house, fence and bell may be voted for, 109. 

SCHOOL LISTS,— See Teachers' Lists. 

SCHOOL MONEYS. 

How to be apportioned by state superintendent, 92,9*7,98,139,140. 

How to be appropriated, 93,98, 19*7. 

Apportionment of in the division of towns and the erection of new 

town,.. 98,99. 

Certificate of apportionment of to be made to the Comptroller, and 
notice to county clerk, 99' 

Okrk of board of supervisors to transmit certificates of amount rais- 
ed 99- 

Apportionment of by town superintendent, when and how to be 
made, 98, 102, 108, 149 to 154. 

"When may be withheld by comptroller and state superintendent, 99. 

When and how to be disti-ibuted among the several courties........ 100. 

Equitable power of state superintendent in directing apportion- 
ment of in certain cases, 108, 152, 198. 

Da of town sup't on the alteration or division of districts sub- 
sequent to the annual report of trustees, 103, 104. 

Do. do. do. on the formation of a district prior to the date of such 

report, • 104» 1^3. 

When uncalled for, in one year, to be added to amount next to be ap- 
portioned, • 104, 163. 

When to be returned to county treasurer,. 104,158. 

May be withheld on failure of town superintendent to make annual 

report, l^^* 

Disposition of, on annulment of school districts, 109, 145, 146. 

To be divided into portions by trustees ; how to be assigned and 

appUed, 116, 183, 198, 199. 

Forfeiture of district collector for loss of, by neglect of duty, 130. 

Trustees to prosecute for recovery of, apportioned to district, 121, 250. 

Account of receipt and expenditure of, to be annually rendered by 

trustees, .*. 123. 

Balance in hands of trustees to be paid over to sueceseors in office, 1 24. 

Appeals to the state superintendent from refusal of town sup't. to 

pay money to, •••• 124, 198,278. 

To be apportioned to schools for colored children, 181, 152. 

Iknbezzlement of by the town superintendent or other school offi- 

©ers, penalty for 151. 



• »8 

P.S., 

Account of receipt and disbursement of by town sup't, and pay- 
ment of balance due, . 105, 106,167. 

When lost in consequence of wilful neglect of any school oiEcers, 

how to be prosecuted for and recovered 128, 169, ITO- 

Application of raised by or belonging to a town, 198. 

SENECl. 

Provision relative to graduation of rates of tuition in tho schools of 
district No. I, in the town of, 346. 

SEPARATE NEIGHBORHOODS. 

Provisions for apportionment of school money to, 92, 98, 103, 139 

Duty of town superintendent in setting off, Ac, 102 

Inhabitants of to choose one trustee ; duty of. 123 

SHINECOCK INDIANS. 

Act for relief of, in the town of Southampton, Suffolk Co., 369 

SITES FOR SCHOOL HOUSE. • 

When and how to be designated... 111,180, 181, 186 

Taxes for.when and how to be levied, Ill, 180, 181 

In unaltered districts, when and how to be chang- 
ed,. ; 113, 168, 169,184, 185, 186, 192 

Sale of, when, by whom, and on what terms to be made, and invest- 
ment of proceeds, 113, 114, 185, 192, 193, 221 

Trustees to purchase or lease, as designated by district, 115,219 

Taxes for purchasing paid by tenants, (fee., to be charged to owners, 117 

Title to must be procured before expenditure of tax for building 

house 1 

Must be fixed by Tote of district 188 

On failure of title to, certificate of town sup't not requisite to es- 
tablishment of new site; .". 188 

Tax for may be sufficient to cover expenses of procuring title 188, 189 

Effect of incimibranoes upon, leases, (fee, of, and contracts for, 188 

Form of minutes to be kept by district clerk, on change of in unal- 
tered district 192. 

SPECIAL MEETINGS,— See District Meetings. 

When and how to be called by town superintendent, to decide on 
proposed alterations in joint school districts, and effect of decis- 
ion of, 108, 147. 

In dissolved districts when to be called by trustees, to raise money 

todischarge legal liabilities, 109. 

When and how to be oalled for the election of district officers and 

for other purposes, HI, 112, 178. 

Proceedingsof not to be deemed illegal for want of notice, (fee., 112, 179,268. 

For change of site of unaltered district, 113. 

Notice of time and place of to be given by distriot clerk, 115, 268. 

To be called by trustees, 116, 200,179. 

Notice of when to be given by trustees „ 116, 20O. 

Form of notice for, by distriot clerk, 259, 



396 , 

Pace. 

ST. REGIS INDIANS. 

Act to provide for the education of the children of, 367. 

STATE CERTIFICATE OF QUALIFICATION. 

State superintendent authorized to grant, 96. 

STATE NORMAL SCHOOL,— See Normal School 

STATE TAX. 

For support of common schools, how to be levied and collect- 
ed, 92,97, 139, 140. 

SUITS. 

By town superintendent for collection of penalties and forfeitures, 102. 

Do. do. for balances in the hands of predecessors in office, 106. 

Do. do. for moneys in the hands of officers of dissolved districts,... 109, 146. 

By trustees for penalty for illegal voting at district meetings, 110, 250. 

Do. on security given on sale of district property, 113, 114,249. 

Do. for forfeitures and balances in hands of collector, 120, 250. 

Do. against bail or sureties of collectors, 120. 

Do. against non residents for non-payment of tax list or rate-bill,... 121, 249. 

Do. against town superintendents for recovery of moneys appor- 
tioned by to district, , 121,250. 

Do. for recovery of penalty against predecessors for refusal or ne- 
glect to account, 124,250. 

Do. for balances of money remaining in the hands of predecessors, 124, 250. 

By town superintendents for penalty against trustees for neglect 

or refusal to account, 124. 

By trustees against their predecessors for loss or injury to books in 

district library, 126. 

Do. for recovery of fines for loss of or injury to such books 126. 

By state superintendent, for penalty against county clerk, fosrefu- 

sal or neglect to report, 127. 

By supervisor for penalties and forfeitures against town superin- 
tendents and officers of districts, for wilful neglect of official duty, 128.' 

Provision for costs and expenses of, by and against town supt and 

officers of school districts, 128, 129,169. 

By trustees for wilful disturbance, interruption or disquiet of district , 

school, (fee, 130, 

General principles of law respecting, by and against trustees of 

districts, , 249 to 255. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF COMMON SCHOOLS. 

Annual report of what to contain,. , 96. 

To appoint a general deputy, " 

May appoint visitors of common schools, " 

To gi-ant state certificates of quaUfication to teachers, ^ " 

Copies of papers filed with and acts and decisions of, how authenti- 
cated, 97. 

Apportionment of school moneys by, 92,97, 139, 140. 

Duty of in apportionment of state tax, 92, 97, 98, 139 140. 



397 

To give certificate to comptroller and notice to county clerks, 99. 

Authorized to withhold school money on failure of board of super- 
visors to raise amount required by law, 99. 

To prepare and transmit suitable forms and instructions for execu- 
tion of school law, 99. 

Apportionment by on division and erection of towns, 98, 99. 

May withhold, in conjunction with comptroller, public money, in cer- 
tain cases, 99. 

Equitable powers of in the apportionment of public mon- 
ey, 103,104, 162,198. 

To add moneys remaining on hand for one year, to the amount 

next to be apportioned, 104. 

To give notice of loss ef school money occasioned by neglect of 

town sup't 105. 

When authorized to call special meeting for election of district offi- 
cers, 112. 

Consent of to be given to the correction of errors in tax list or rate- 
bills, 121, 202. 

Appeals to from proceedings of inhabitants and officers of districts 

and others 124, 274 to 2*78. 

Consent of necessary to application of library money to teachers' 
wages, 126. 

To prescribe regulations respecting the preservation of disti-ict libra- 
ries, the use of books, Ac, 126. 

Appeals to from acts or decisions of trustees or inhabitants, con- 
cerning district libraries, 126, 27<5. 

Directions to be given in case of withholding librai-y money from dis- 
tricts, 127. 

When authorized to select a library for districts, 127. 

To prosecute for penalty against county clerk for refusal or neglect 

to report, 127. 

May remove any school officer for embezzlement of public money or 

wilful neglect of official duty, 131. 

To cause to be printed school laws, forms and instructions, <fec.,... . 93, 131^ 

Power of town superintendents over districts formed by, on ap- 
peal 169. 

Regulations prescribed by for preservation and use of books in dis- 
trict libraries 240, 267 to 270. 

Do. do. prosecution of appeals, 275 to 278. 

To subscribe to an educational periodical, ic, 370 

Powers and duties of, in the supervision, management and govern- 
ment of the state normal school, 371. 

Duty in reference to the purchase of Webster's Dictionary for the 

use of schools, 378. 

SUPERVISORS.— See Board of Supervisors. 

Town superintendent to execute a bond to, with Buretiea to be 

approved by, « 101, 141. 



398 

Tuge, 

Form of Bond, 110. 

Town superintendents ineligible as, 102 142. 

To prosecute for penalty imposed on toira superintendent neglect- 
ing to make annual report, 105. 

"When to be associated with town superintendent and town clerk 
in the formation or alteration of districts, and powers and com- 
pensation of, 108,142, 143,144. 

To prosecute for penalty for wilful neglect of official duty by 

town superintendents and officers of school districts, 128, 169, 

SYRACUSE. 

Act relating to public schools in the city of, 345. 

T. 

TAXES. 

Inhabitants of dissolved districts, when authorized to raise, .... 109. 

For purchase or lease of sites, and for building, hiring or purcliasing 

schoolhouses, Ill, 180, 181, 188. 

For fuel and appendages, clerks' books, maps, globes, black boards, 

and apparatus, Ill, 180. 

For building, hiring, or puo^chasing school house, not exceeding $400, 

except on certificate of town superintendent, 112, 168, 131. 

When and how to be raised by instalment, 112, 181. 

Re-consideration of..... 113, 181. 

Assessment of in joint districts, when and how to be equalized US, ITO. 

To be assessed by trustees, 115, 201. 

For amount of exemptions from rate-bills for teachers' wa- 
ges, 93, 116,224,225. 

Deficiencies in, how to be provided for, 116, 183. 

Provisions for the assessment and collection of, 117, 118, 119, 201 to 209. 

Who to be deemed taxable inhabitants, 117, 203. 

For purchasing school house and site, to be charged by tenants to 

owners of real estate, 111. 

On non-resident, unoccupied and unimproved real estate, how return- 
ed and collected, 118, 119, 207 to 209, 212. 

Valuation of taxable property, how to be ascertained,... 119, 206, 209 to 215. 

Reductions in such valuation, how claimed and when to be allow- 
ed, 119, 209 to212. 

Proceedings on such claim, and when valuations cannot be ascertain- 
ed from assessment roll, 119, 209 to 212. 

Exemption from for building school hoiise, in certain eases, 119,215. 

To be assessed Ac, within thirty days after vote therefor, 119, 201. 

Duty of c oUector in collection of, and when may be voluntarily paid, 119. 

"When to be levied by trustees, for fuel, ..••. 120, 216. 

"When trustees may levy without a vote of the district 120, 121, 216. 

"Warrants for collection of, how issued, effect of, and when and how , 
• renewable by trustees, 121, 

Trustees authorized to prosecute non-residents fornon payment of, 121. 



399 

PBg«. 

For purchase of district library, when authorized, 125,182, 183,190. 

To be imposed by trustees of districts for costs and expenses of 

suits by or against officers of districts 129. 

To be specifically Toted, 194, 251. 

On railroad, plank road, turnpike, banking and other corporations, 

ho-w to be assessed, &c., 206,207, 2iS, 214. 

EfiFect of directions of district on vote for collection of, 188 

For wood house, fence, bell, and necessary in school district, 190 

For contmgent purposes and arrearages, 190. 

Application of portion of, when not required for district purposes, 190. 

Against agents, tenants, trustees, guardians, executors and admin- 
istrators, how to be assessed, 212,213, 214,215. 

Persons and property exempt from, 215, 216. 

TAX LISTS. 

Trustees of dissolved districts to make out for discharge of legal 

liabilities, 109. 

To be made out by trustees ; what to contain, 115, 201. 

Deficiences in amount collected by, h'ow to be raised, 116. 

To be made out for amount of exemptions of indigent persons, 93, 116, 117. 

Powers and duties of trustees in making out,. . . . 117, 118, 119, 201 to 219. 

Valuations of property to be ascertained from last assessment 

roll of town, 119, 209, 210. 

Claim for reduction when and how to be made and allowed, 119, 209, 210, 

Ti'ustees when to make original assessment, and to give notice 

thereof, 119, 210, to 212. 

To be made out within thirty days after tax voted, 119, 301, 202. 

When to be delivered, with warrant, to collector, and his duty 

thereon ' 119, 218, 219. 

Errors in how to be corrected, 121, 202. 

Wlien may be made out after expiration of thirty days, 202. 

Form of for collection of district taxes, 217. 

Form of warrant for collection of, 218. 

Trustees authorized to prosecute for amount due on by non-resi- 
dents, in certain cases, 121, 249. 

TEACHERS. 

State certificate of qualifications, when to be granted to, 96. 

Wages of, when andhow payable, and on what order, 103, 115, 197, 273. 

When to be deemed duly qualified, 103. 

Inspection and licensing of by town superintendents, 107, 108, 154 to 167. 

Certificates of qualification to, when to be granted and annulled by 

town sup'ts., 107. 

In joint districts, by whom certificate to be granted and annulled, 107. 
Trustees to contract with, employ and pay by orders on town super- 
intendent and rate-bills, 115, 116, 93,221. 

To keep verified lists of attendance and visitation of schools, 1 20, 270, to 273. 
Form of teachers' lists, daily and weekly rolls, Ac, 271,272. 



40(1 

Form of certificate of qualification and of instrument annulling the 

same, 174. 

Employment of, their payment, and rate-bills for collection of wa- 
ges, 221 to 230. 

Contracts with, how to be made, and effect of, 221, 222, 223, 273, 274. 

Board of, how to be provided for, 222, 223. 

When trustees may dismiss, » 223, 273. 

Trustees to co-operate with in the government and discipline of 

the school, 232. 

"When eligible as district collector 262. 

Powers, duties and liabilities of, in the preservation and enforce- 
ment of order and discipline, . ^ 273, 274. 

Entitled to participate in the privileges of the district libraiy,. ... 27 S. 

When library may be placed in charge of by trustees 273 

When authorized to dismiss school without losing time, 274. 

May open and close their school with prayer and the reading of the 

scripture, .^ 273. 

Duty of in reference to care and custody of Websters' Dictionary, 378. 

TEACHERS' INSTITUTES. 

History of the organization and establishment of, 59, 60, 61, 66, 71. 

Act for the establishment of, 372. 

TEACHERS' LISTS. 

Trustees to ascertain by examination of, the number of days for 

which each person is liable for instruction, 116. 

Blank books to be procured by trustees for keeping, 120, 199, 231. 

How to be made out and kept, and forms for, 271, 272. 

TEACHERS' MONEY,— See School money, Teachers' Wages. 

Proportion of, to be designated in the apportionTnent by towneup'i 103, 150. 

How payable to teachers, 103, 160, 197. 

When to be withheld by town superintendent, and his duty thereon, 162. 

When and how to be divided into portions, 116,183, 198,199. 

TEACHERS' WAGES.— See Teachers. 

Appropriation of public money to payment of...... 93, 97, 98, 139, 140. 

Provisions for collection and payment of 93, 115, 116, 197, 223 to 230. 

Indigent inhabitants to^be exempted from payment of, 93, 116, 224 to 230. 

When library money maybe applied to the payment of, 125, 182. 

TENANTS. 

At will or for years, authorized to charge tax for purchasing sites, 

building school houses, <fec., to owner, Il7. 

Liability of to taxation, 212, 214. 

TEXT BOOKS. 

Library money not to be expended in the purchase of, 154. 

To be recommended by town superintendents, 108, 163. 

TONAWAJfDA INDIANS. 

Act to provide for education of the children of, in the coimty of 

Genesee, 369. 



^1 

Page. 

TOWNS. 

Apportionment of public money On erection or division of, 98, 99, 140. 

TOWN BOARD.— See Town Superintendent, Town Clerk, Su- 
pervisor. 

TOWN CLERK. . 

Appointment of town superintendent by Justices, to be filed in 

office of, 101, 141. 

Town superintendents ineligible to office of, 102, 142. 

To receive and keep reports of trustees to town superintendents, 
books and papers, ifec , 106, 107, 14S. 

To receive and record estimates and apportion'ts of school money, 107, 143. 

To notify town superintendent to make annual report, 107,143. 

When to be associated with town superintendent and supervisor in 
the formation and alteration of districts, and powers and com- 
pensation of when so a.9sociated, 108, 142, 143, 144. 

When authorized to order inhabitants of district to notify special 
meeting for election of district officers, 112. 

TOWN SCHOOL FUNDS. 

Provisions respecting, ; 132 to 137, 141, 142, 151, 198. 

Application of, 198. 

TOWN SUPERINTENDENTS OF COMMON SCHOOLS. 

Share of public money to be paid over to, 98, 100, 140. 

How to be apportioned by them 98. 

Notice of apportionment by state superintendent, to be given to 

by county treasurer, 100. 

Election and general powers and duties of, : 100,141. 

To execute a bond with sureties to supervisor, conditioned for the 

faithful performance of duties of, &c., iOl, 141. 

Form of bond, 170. 

Vacancies in office of, when and how to be filled, 101, 141, 142. 

Notice of appointment to be given to 101,141. 

Tei-m of office, when to commence and duration of, 101, 141, 142. 

Ineligible as trustees of a school district, supervisor or toven 

clerk, 101, 102, 142. 

To perform the duties of trustee of gospel and school lands, 102, 142. 

Duties of in reference to the formation and alteration of districts, 

and the receipt and apportionment of school money, 

102, 103, 142, 143, 144, 145, 149 to 154, 171 to 174. 

Do. in the collection and application of penalties and forfeitures, 102, 167.' 

Do. in payment of teachers and library money, 103, 149 to 154. 

Do. on the alteration or division of districts after date of the an- 
nual report, 103,104, 153. 

To add monies imcalled for, during one year to amount next to 

be apportioned, 104, 153. 

When to retui-n such monies to the county treasurer, 104, 163. 

26 



Page. 

Annual report of, when to be made and what to con- 
tain,. 104,105, 164 to 166. 

Penalty for neglect, 106, 166. 

To keep an accotmt of moneys received and expended and to lay 

the same before board of town auditors, 105, 106, 161, 168. 

To render account to his successor in office and pay over balance 

at the expiration of his term, to be filed in town clerks office, 106, 167, 168. 

To state and pay over balances appropriated to school dist's, 106, 167, 168. 

Successor in office to prosecute for any unpaid balance, 106, 167,168. 

To take'and hold property transfen-ed for the use of com. schools, 106, 168. 

Authorized to administer , oaths, 106. 

Compensation of and how paid, 106, 142. 

Reports, estimates and apportionments of where to be filed, 106,107. 

Powers and duties of as inspector of Common Schools, 107, 154 to 164, 174. 

To grant and annul certificates of qualification to teachers, and 

forms for, 107,154, 155,174. 

When and how often to visit schools, 108, 157, 158 to 164. 

Powers and duties of, at such visitation, 108, 157 to 164. 

To advise and consult with trustees in relation to their duties and 

the management of the school and course of instruction, 108, 162 to 164. 

Powers and duties of in the formation and alteration of school „ 

districts, 108, 109, 142-146, l7l to 174. 

When authorized to call special meeting in joint districts for the 

purpose of determining on proposed alteration 108, 147. 

Duty of, on the annulment of a district, 109, 145,146. 

Do. on the formation of a district, 109, 110. 

To prepare a notice in writing, describing the district and appointing 
time and place for first meeting, <fec., 109. 

When to renew such notice, 110. 

Consent of, for the designation of two or more sites for school hous- 
es, and for levying tax for the pm-chase or lease thereof, and for 
building or purchasing school houses thereon, &c., 111. 

When to order inhabitants of districts to notify special meetings 

for election of district officers, 112. 

Certificate of, on tax exceeding $400 for building, hiring or purchas- 
ing school house, 112,181,408. 

To equalize valuation of taxable property in joint districts, on appli- 
cation of trustees,.. 113, 170. 

Consent of, necessai-y to change of site in unaltered district, 113. 

When to fill vacancy in the office of trustee, 114, 169. 

Authorized to accept resignation of district officers, and to give no- 
tice thereof to clerk or trustees, 114. 

Teachers' wages to be paid in part by orders on, for public money, 115. 

Approbation of to be given to second and subsequent renewals of 

district warrants, 121, 168. 

Suit to be brought against, by trustees for recovery of money ap- 
portioned by 121. 



403 

P»fe. 

Do. do. for penalty for neglect or refusal to account, 324* 

Appeals to state superintendent from proceedings of, <fec., 124, 198, 27510 218. 

Penalties and forfeitures for wilful neglect of duty by, and how col- 
lected, 128, 169, 248. 

Provisions for costs of suits against, for official acts 128, 169, 254. 

To ascertain amount of such costs and expenses, and levy and col- 
lect the same 129. 

Powers and duties of, relative to schools for colored child- 
ren, 130, 131, 152, 230. 

May be removed from office by state superintendent for embezzle- 
ment of public money, or wilful neglect of official duty, . . 131, 166,248. 

Copies of school laws, forms and instructions to be forwarded to, 131. 

Powers and duties of, relative to town school fund and school lots, 133, 134. 

Powers and duties of, relative to moneys in the hands of overseers 
ofthepoor 135, 151. 

To report names and post-office address to department of common 

schools, 142. 

To allow trustees to correct defective reports, 154. 

To fm*nish answers to appeals, 169. 

Powers of, in reference to districts formed by the state superintend- 
ent on appeal 169. 

Not required to take oath of office, 170. 

Forms prescribed by state superintendent for use of, 170 to 177. 

Form of bond to be given by, to supervisor, 170. 

Form of resolution by, creating a new district, 171. 

Do. of notice to trustees withholding their consent to an alteration 

of their district, 172, 

Do. of notice of the first meeting in a district to organize, 172. 

Do. of resolution for the alteration of a district, 173, 

•Do on the formation or alteration of joint districts, 174. 

Do. of certificateof qualification to teacher, 174. 

Do. of instrument annulling teachers' certificate, 174. 

Do. of annual report 174 to 177. 

Duty of, in the organization and management of teachers' Insti- 
tutes 372. 

Duty of, under act to provide for the purchase of Webster's Diction- 
ai-y for the use of schools, 373. 

TROY. 

Act to provide for the establishment of free schools in the city 

of,*. 351, 356, 357. 

TRUSTEES. 

Liability of, to taxation for school district purposes, 214, 215. 

TRUSTEES OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

General powers and duties of 115, 116,195. 

Town superintendents ineligible as, 101, 142,195. 

Cannot hold the office of district clerk, 102, 195. 



404 

Page. 

Teachers' wages payable on order and certificate of, 103, 160, 191, 

Duties of, in the expenditure of library money, 103, 150, 151. 

May apply to supervisor and town clerk, to be associated with town 

sup'tin the formation or alteration of districts 108, 142. 

Consent of, when necessary to formation or alteration of district, 
how to be given, and notice to, 108, 143, 144. 

Duty of, on dissolution or consolidation of district, 109. 

To call special meetings for raising taxes to defray legal liabilities,, 109. 

To prosecute for penalty for illegal voting at district meetings,... . 110. 

When and how to be chosen,; Ill, 195. 

To be divided by lot into three elasses, and terms of office of, Ill, 196. 

Vacancies in office of, how filled, Ill, 114, 169, 195, 196. 

When to give notice of special meeting for election of district offi- 
cers, and for other purposes, 112, 178. 

When to designate the time for holding annual meeting, 112, 178. 

When to levy a tax for building school house, by instalments, 112, 181. 

To apply to town supt's for equalization of valuation of taxable 

property in joint districts, 113. 

To execute deed on sale of school house and lot, 113, 221, 

To take security for payment of moneys on such, sale ; to hold the 
same as a corporation, and to account to their successors therefor ; 
and to prosecute on such security, 113, 114, 221. 

Appropriation by, of proceeds of such sale to new site and house,... 114, 221. 

To fill vacancies in offices of district clerk, collector and librai-ian, . . 114. 

Penalty for refusing to serve, and for neglect to perform official du- 
ties, 114, 195, 248.. 

Resignation of, how and to whom to be made, and notice of 114, 195. 

Copies of reports of, to be entered of record by district clerk, 114. 

To call special meetings, 115, 200. 

When to give notice of special, annual and adjourned meetings, 115, 200. 

To make out tax lists and warrants, . 115. 

To purchase or lease sites, and to build, hire, pm-chase and keep in 
repair, school houses, and to provide fuel and appendages, 115, 219, 220; 221. 

To have custody of district school house, ; 115, 220.. 

To contract with, employ and pay teachers, 115, 221. 

To divide the public money in portions, and to assign and apply the 

same 115, 198, 199, 224- 

To collect teachers' wages not provided for by public money 116,. 224. 

To exempt indigent persons from payment of teachers' wages, 
wholly or in part, and to certify such exemption to district • 

clerk, , 93, 116, 224, 225, 226, 228,. 229-. 

To make out rate-bill and warrant for teachers' wages,... . 93, 116, 224, 225. 
May expend ten dollars annually for repairs to school house, and 

levy the amount on the district, 116. 

Proceedings of, in apportionment assessment and collection of dis- 
trict taxes, 117, 118, 119, 201 to 219. 



405 

Pige. 

To make statement, description and return of unoccupied and un- 
improved real estate liable to taxation, 117, 118. 

May omit to include non-resident property situated more than three 

miles from school house 117. 

When and how to make original valuations in taxable property, giv- 
ing notice, <tc.,; 119, 210 to 212. 

When to make out tax lists and -warrants <fc to deliver to collector, 119, 201. 

To sue for, recover and apply forfeitures and balances in hands of 

collector, 120. 

To procure blank books for entry of receipts and disbursements, 

property of district, and teachers' lists, 120, 199, 216,270. 

When authorized to levy tax without vote of the district 120, 121, 216, 

When to procure fuel for use of district, and to levy tax therefor, 120, 216. 

Force and effect of warrants issued by, for collection of tax lists or 
rate-bills, 121* 

Renewal of wanants by, when and how made, 121. 

Autliorized to prosecute non-residents for amounts due on such 
warrants, 121;' 24 9. 

When and how errors in tax lists or rate-bills may be corrected by, 121, 202. 

When to prosecute for moneys apportioned to their district, 121,260. 

Anbual report of, when to be made and what to contain,... . 122, 242 to 248. 

Form of, 244 to 248. 

To hire temjwrarilj', when necessary, rooms for the accommodation 

of children entitled to attend schools, 123, 221. 

In joint districts, reports to be made to town superintendent of each 

town, 123. 

Penalty for falsereport, 123, 248. 

Property vested in, to be held as a corporation, 123. 

Annually to render an account to district, of moneys received and 

expended, 123. 

To pay to successors in office, balance remaining in their hands,... . 124. 

Penalty for refusal or neglect to account or pay over, 124, 249. 

Successors in office to prosecute for, recover and apply such penal- 
ty, and balances due from predecessors, 124,249. 

Appeals to state superintendent from acts of, 124, 275 to 278. 

Powers, duties and liabilities of, as trustees of district libra- 
ry 125, 126, 233 to 242, 265 to 270. 

May be removed from office by State superintendent, for embezzle- 
ment of public money, or wilful neglect of official duty, 131, 166, 248. 

Penalties and forfeiture for wilful neglect of official duty by, and 

how to be colle(jfed, 128, 169, 248, 

Provision for costs and expenses in suits by and against, for official 

acts, '. 128,129,169, 253,254. 

To prosecute for wilful disturbance, inten'uption or disquiet of dis- 
trict schools, ifec, 139, 256. 



406 

Ptgt. 
Powers and duties of, relative to schools for colored child- 
ren, 130, 131, 230, 331, 255, 256. 

To report catalogue of books in disti'ict library, 151, 154, 199, 200, 240. 

To apply to state superintendent for relief, when public money is 
withheld, 162, 198. 

To correct annual reports when defective, at any time before appor- 
tionment, i .... 154. 

Duty of in application of local school funds, 198. 

Duty and liabilities of, in application of teachers' money, 199. 

When and how authorized to con-ect errors in assessment roll of 
town, 212. 

Duty of, to keep up a school when required by inhabitants of their 

district, 222. 

To co-operate with the teacher in the government and discipline of 
the school,^ 232. 

General principles of law in reference to suits brought against,.. 250 to 255. 

Legal effect of contracts of, 251, 262. 

"WTien liable in trespass, 251. 

Liability of, on contracts of predecessors, 252. 

Liability of for their joint acts and for the acts of each other, 252, 263. 

Authorized to require bond of district collector, 257. 

Payments on tax lists or rate bills made to, to be received as agents 
for collector, 262. 

TRUSTEE OF GOSPEL AND SCHOOL LOT.— See Gospel 
and School Lot. 

Office of abolished and duties transferred to town superintendent, 102, 142. 

Powers and duties of, 133, 134. 

TURNPIKE COMPANIES. 

Liability of to taxation for school district purposes 206. 

Toll house and gate of, <fec., how taxable, 214. 

TUSCARORA INDIANS. 

Act to provide for the education of the children of, in the county 

of Niagara 369. 

u. 

UNOCCUPIED AND UNIMPROVED LANDS. 

Powers and duties of trustees in the assessment of for district 

taxes, in, 203, 205, 207 to 209. 

UTICA. 

Acts relating to common schools in the city of, 357. 

V. 

VACANCIES. 

In office of town superintendent, when and how to be filled, 101, 141. 

In office of trustees and other officers of districts, Ill, 112, 114, 169. 



407 

VALUATIONS. '**'' 

Of taxable property ia joint districts, when and how to be equal- 
ized, 113, no. 

Of taxable property, how to be ascertained in making out tax 

list, 119, 209, 210 to 212. 

How to be made on claim for reduction, and when not ascertained 

from assessment roll, 119,209. 

VISITATION AND INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS. 

Powers and duties of town superintendents in reference to, 108, 15'7 to 164. 

VISITORS OF COMMON SCHOOLS. 

State superintendent authorized to appoint, & powers and duties of, 96. 

VOTERS. 

Qualifications of at school district meetings 110, 193. 

Proceedings on challenge of, 110, 194. 

w. 

WARRA.NTS. 

To be annexed by trustees to tax-lists, 116,201. 

For collection of rate-bills for teachers' wages, effect of and powers 

and duties of collectors in execution of, 93,116. 

Property exempt from levy and sale on, for collection of rate- 
bills 93, 117, 228. 

For collection of taxes, when to be made out by trustees, 119, 201. 

When to be delivered to collector, and his duty thereon, 119, 120, 218, 219. 

Jurisdiction of collector in the execution of in other districts 

■ and towns, 120. 

To be executed by a majority of trustees, without seal, 121, 218. 

To have like force and effect with wan-ants of boards of supervi- 
sors, except in certain cases, 121, 218. 

"When and how to be renewed by trustees 121, 168, 218, 219. 

Form of for collection of district taxes, 217, 218. 

Do. do. rate bills, 224,226. 

WILLIAMSBURGH. 

Act relating to common schools in the city of, 363. 

WILLIAMSVILLE. 

Provision relative to rate-bills in the village of, 366. 

WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY. • 

Act authorizing the superintendent of common schools to purchase 

for the use of schools, 373. 

WOOD HOUSK 

Tax for building legal, 190. 



7 Siif 



408 
NOTE TO PAGE 187. 



Since the passage of these sheets thi-ough the press, the Superintendent 
has decided that inhabitants of school districts may legally vote a tax not 
exceeding $400, for building, hiring or purchasing a school house, under § TO, 
(No. 92,) without the certificate of the Town Superintendent, in addition to 
the avails arising from the sale of the former site and house of the district : 
thereby over-ruling the decision of Gen. Dix, at page 188, of the volume of 
Common School Decisions. 



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